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THE RISE AND FALL 



OF 



THE PARIS COMMUNE 

IN 1871; 

WITH A FULL ACCOUNT OF 

THE BOMBARDMENT, CAPTURE, AND BURNING 
OF THE CITY. 

By W. PEMBROKE "FETRIDGE, 

EDITOR OF "HARPER'S GUIDE-BOOK TO EUROPE AND THE EAST," "HARPER'S 
PHRASE-BOOK," &c. 



ILLUSTRATED WITH A MAP OF PARIS AND PORTRAITS 
FROM ORIGINAL PHOTOGRAPHS. 






NEW YORK: 
HAEPER & BEOTHERS, PUBLISHERS, 

FRANKLIN SQUARE. 
1 SVl. 







Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1871 , by 

W. Pembroke Fetridge, 

In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, 



'THE LIBRA JfeTl 

01^ congress! 

|| WASH! NGTOW I 



,F4\ 



J2I I 



PREFACE. 



A S accuracy is tlie principal merit in a "work of this 
description, tlie autlior, who remained in Paris 
from March 6 th until after the capture of the city by the 
Government troops, which was completed May 29th, 1871, 
has diligently examined and carefully sifted all reports 
published by the different writers in the Paris journals, as 
well as those of foreign correspondents, with whom he was 
brought in hourly contact. Naturally, there was much 
discrepancy in the various accounts given, as the scene of 
action covered so large a space of territory. Each succeed- 
ing day corrections were made in the original reports, of 
which readers in the United States could never be thor- 
oughly informed through the newspapers. Three days in 
succession three different first-class Paris journals gave the 
last dying words of General Dombrowski, one of the chiefs 
of the insurrection, all entirely different. So it was in 
every instance connected with the arrest or execution of 



IV PREFACE. 

the different members of the Commune, the storming of 
the different barricades, and the multitude of heroic and 
daring actions performed throughout the city. These 
accounts have been corrected by facts since brought to 
Hght ; and this material, with what the author personally 
saw, is now brought before the pubHc. The record is 
probably the saddest which has ever appeared on the 
page of history. 

Paeis, August, 1871. 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER I. 



PAGIi 



Causes of tlie Insurrection — War ■with Prussia — Fall of the 
Empire — Clause in the Treaty of Brussels, leaving the 
National Guard in Arms — Letter of Prince Napoleon to 
Jules Favre — Mistake made by Jules Favre in Signing 
the Treaty — Fears entertained regarding the Return of the 
Soldiers — "Weakness shown by the Government — Council 
of Ministers held at Versailles — Meeting of National 
Guards at Montmartre — Election of Members for the 
Central Committee — A Prefect of Police appointed by 
the Government — Protest of the National Guards — They 
Insist upon their Right to Elect Municipal Officers — They 
Protest against the Introduction of Regular Troops into the 
City — Organization of the National Guard — Necessity for 
its Dissolution — Refusal of the Guards to deliver up their 
Guns — The Government proposes to Stop their Pay — 
Prussian Sentry killed by a National Guard — Arrest of 
the latter — Arrest of two Germans by the Malcontents — 
Their Trial and Condemnation by the Central Committee 
— Their Release— Conditions of their Release unfulfilled 
by the Prussians — Proclamation of M. Thiers — Proclama- 
tion to the National Guards — Determination of the Govern- 
ment to subdue the Insurrection — Attempt made to 
secure the Guns in the Place des Vosges — They are 
removed to Belleville — Erection of Barricades — Occupa- 
tion of Montmartre by the Troops — Mismanagement shown 
— Hostile Attitude assumed by the National Guard — They 
oppose the removal of the Guns — Refusal of the Soldiers 



Vi CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

to Advance — The 88tli Eegiment of the Line fraternizes 
with the Insurgents — Withdrawal of the Troops who 
remain faithful — They are fired upon by the In- 
surgents 15 



CHAPTEE II. 

Elation of the National Gu.ards — Erection of new Barricades- 
Battery surrendered hy its Escort to the Insurgents — 
; Arrest of Generals Lecomte and Thomas — Their Assassi- 
nation — Brave attitude of the murdered Officers — Two 
Aides-de-Camp of General Lecomte narrowly escape the 
same fate^-The Central Committee assume the direction 
of Affairs — Excitement at Montrouge — Barricades erected 
in the Faubourg Saint-Antoine — Gendarmes dismounted 
and disarmed — Proclamation of the Government — Events 
at the Hotel de Villa — Ail Access to the Buttes Chaumont 
forbidden by the National Guards — Two .Regiments of 
the Line Surrounded and Disarmed — The Insurgents take 
possession of the Place Vendome — Evacuation of the llth 
Arrondissement — Meeting of Paris Deputies, Mayors, and 
Adjoints — Concessions proposed to the Government and 
accepted, but withdrawn after news received of the 
Murder of Generals Lecomte and Thomas — The Central 
Committee take possession of the Hotel de Ville — Arrest 
of General Chanzy — Official Journal seized by the In- 
surgents — Proclamation of the Central Committee — City 
entirely abandoned by the Troops — Public Buildings 
occupied by the Insurrection — Decree for the Elections * 
— Communication cut off with the Provinces — The Gov- 
ernment Officials summoned to Versailles — The Prussians 
return to St. Denis — Their Despatch to M. Jules Favre — 
His Reply — Great Military Preparations — Sitting of the 
Assembly — The Department of the Seine declared in a 
state of siege — Children of General Lecomte adopted by 
the Country — Prussian Communication to the Central 
Committee — Reply of Paschal Grousset 33 



CONTENTS. vii 



CHAPTER III. 

PAGE 

Admiral Saisset appointed Commander-in-Chief of tlic National 
Guai'ds — The Law and Order Party endeavor to overcome « 
the Insurrection — Concessions obtained by Admiral Saisset 
from the National Assembly — His Proclamation — The In- 
surrectionists still unsatisfied — The Elections postponed 
by Decree until March 26th — Declaration of the Press — It 
calls forth a Threat from the Central Committee — Pro- r 
cession of the Order Party — Passage through the Place 
Vendome — Citizen Tony-Mollin appointed Mayor of the 
6tb. Arrondissement — M. Leroy takes possession of the 
Mairie — Is ejected by Citizen Lullier — Warehouses broken 
into by the Mob — Chassepots sold for ten francs — Deputa- 
tion sent to Valerien — Second Procession of the Order 
Party — Endeavor made to disperse the crowd — Shots ' '4- 
fired — Frightful Massacre — Ambulances collect the dead — 
Diflferences of Opinion with regard to which Party fired 
the first Shot — Account given by the OflScial Journal — 
General Bergeret's view of the question — Requisitions — 
Executions at Montmartre — Deputation of Mayors to the 
Assembly demanding a Compromise concerning the day 
of the Elections — Hostile Attitude of the Assembly — Ad- 
dress of M. Arnaud — Tribune assigned to the Mayors — 
Their Entrance — Their Observations resented by the 
Right — ^Violent agitation — The Meeting dissolved — Even- 
ing Sitting — Resolutions presented by the Mayors for 
Approval — Several Mayors on their return to Paris make 
an Arrangement with the Central Committee — The Citizens 
exhorted to Vote — Discrepancy in the Statement of the 
Mayors and that of the Central Committee — The Resolu- 
tions of the Mayors rejected in the Assembly by a large 
majority — Decrees in the Official Journal — Insurrectional 
Movement in Lyons — In Marseilles — Toulouse — St. Etienne ' 
— Fusion of the Mayors and Central Committee — Version 
of the Committee — That of the Mayors — Proclamation of 
the Deputies of Paris — Resignation of Admiral Saisset — 
Proclamation of the Central Committee 55 



YIU CONTEiq-TS. 



CHAPTEK IV. 

PAGE 

Successful Results obtained by tbe Committee on the Elections 
— Small number of Voters — List of tbe Commune — Deles- ' 
cluze resigns bis seat in tbe Assembly, and becomes 
Member of tbe Commune — Ceremony at tbe Hotel de Ville 
— Commissioners appointed by tbe Commune — Proclama- 
tions — Decrees^Tbe Eed Flag floats from tbe Tuileries — 
Absolute Power of tbe Commime — Sub-Committee of 
eleven members — Garibaldi — Opinions of tbe Communist 
Journals — Post-office Director appointed by tbe Commune 
— Imprisonment of Lullier — Situation of Paris — Prepara- 
tions of tbe Insurgents — Concentration of tbeir Troops — 
Plan of Attack — Engagement at Meudon — Cbatillon — 
Sortie by tbe Porte Maillot— ^be Insurgents met by tlie 
Versailles troops — Bearer of a Flag of Truce sbot by tbe 
Insurgents — Tbeir precipitate Eetreat — Cbarge of tbe 
Gendarmes — False Bulletins of tbe Commune — Arrival of 
tbe Insurgents, commanded by Flourens, at Eeuil — Barri- 
cades erected in tbe Streets — Arrival of tbe Gendarmes 
and Capture of tbe Barricades — Utter Eout of tbe Federals 
— Searcb for Flourens — He is discovered and killed — His 
Aide-de-Camp taken prisoner. 85 



CHAPTER V. 

Proclamation of tbe Marquis de Gallifet — Tbreat of tbe 
Communists — Imprisonment of Assi — Grade of General 
abolisbed — Dombrowski appointed Commandant of Paris 
— Attack on Cbatillon — Deatb of General Duval — Decree 
rendering Military Service obligatory for all men between 
tbe ages of nineteen and forty — Pretexts adopted for 
escape from tbe City— Eocbefort instigates tbe demolition 
of M. Tbiers' bouse — .Letter of Garibaldi — Decree relative 
to Prisoners — Cluseret's Eeport — Note of Pascbal Grousset 
to tbe Foreign Eepresentatives-^Bergeret's Letter — Cap- 



.CONTENTS. IX 

FAGB 

ture of Courbevoie by the Versailles Troops — The Bridge 
of Neuilly takeu— Shells fall at the Arc de Triomphe — 
Persecution of the Clergy — Imprisonment of the Arch- 
bishop of Paris — Conflict of the Commune and Central 
Committee — Bergeret Incarcerated — Despatch of Dom- 
browski — The fight at Courbevoie — Attack on tlie In- 
surgent Outposts at Issy — Account given by General 
Cluseret — The Committee of Conciliation 105 



CHAPTEK VI. 

M. Jules Favre at Prussian Headquarters — Letter of Paschal 
Grousset to the Prussian Commander — Proclamation posted 
at St. Denis — Sacrilege of the Communists — Religious 
services discontinued — Decree ordering the destruction 
of the Column Vendome — Article in the Mot d'Ordre — 
Shells fall far into Paris — Report of General Cluseret — 
Battery at Trocadero — Marshal de McMahon appointed 
Commander-in-Chief of the Army of Versailles — Forma- 
tion of that Army — The Army of Reserve — Fighting on 
the 15th — Elections of the 16th — Fighting at Asnieres — 
The Chateau de Becon carried by the Troops — The Govern- 
ment accused of Procrastination — Deputations to Ver- 
sailles—Address of the Republican League — Programme 
of the Commime — Severe firing on the 19th — Losses of the 
Insurgents — Attack of the Insurgents on the Bridge at 
Neuilly— Their Defeat — Letter from the Archbishop to 
M. Thiers — Damage caused in Paris by Shells— Engage- 
ment at the Bridge of Clicky — Explosion of a Powder 
Magazine — Convents and Nunneries invaded — Atheism of 
the Communists — The Executive Committee — Suppression 
of Journals — Insurgent Batteries at Lavallois and Clichy — 
Attack on tke Park of Neuilly — Proclamation announcing 
an Armistice at Neuilly — Expectation of a grand attack — 
Attack on Levallois by the Troops— Repulsed by Dom- 

browski 131 

1* 



COKTENTS. 



CHAPTER VII. 



The Armistice — Unliappy Condition of the Inhabitants of 
Neuilly — Sitting of the Commune — OflScial Circular from 
Versailles — Cannonade of Fort Issy — Reconnaissance on 
the Boulevard Bineau — Meeting of Freemasons at the 
Chatelet — English Journals — L'es Moulineaux captured 
by the Troops — Attack on Neuilly — Reported Cruelty of a 
Versailles Captain — Speech of M. Thiers in the Assembly — 
Combats on the Boulevard du Chateau — Proclamations of 
General Cluseret — ^Meeting of Freemasons — Speeches at 
the Hotel de Ville — ^Procession to the Eamparts — Deputa- 
tion to Versailles — Evacuation of Fort Issy — Re-occupied 
by the Insurgents — Versailles Circular— Deposition of 
Cluseret — His Arrest — Rossel appointed to the War 
Department — His History — Issy summoned to Surrender 
— Rossel's Reply — Committee of Public Safety — Letter of 
Rossel — Capture of the Chateau of Issy — Heroic Defence 
of the Fort — Cannonade of Fort Vanves — Redoubt of 
Moulin — Jaquet taken — Fighting at Neuilly — Deputation 
of the Republican League — Decree of the Committee of 
Public Safety— Military Appointments — Brilliant Success 
of the Troops— The Mont-de-Piete 169 



CHAPTEE VIII. 

Concert given at the Tuileries for the Benefit of the wounded 
National Guards— Appeal of M. Thiers to the Inhabitants 
of Paris— Battery of Montretout — Evacuation of Fort Issy 
— Occupation by the Troops — Engagement at Moulin- 
Saquet — False Reports given by the Official Journal — 
Rossel's Report — His Letter — His Imprisonment and 
Escape — Delescluze appointed Delegate of War — Fort 
Vanves evacuated — The Insurgents again take Possession 



CONTEl^TS. XI 

PAGE 

— Differences of tlie Commune and Central Committee — 
Government Despatch — Decree ordaining the Demohtion 
of M. Thiers' house — Camp in the Bois de Boulogne — Pro- i 
cession of Troops at Versailles— Sinking of an Insurgent 
Gunboat — Capture of Fort Vanves — Villas in the neigh- 
borhood of Paris plundered by the Insurgents — Threat of 
the Communists with regard to Paris — Dissensions of the 
Commune — Fall of the Column Vendome — Its Description 
— Guns captured at Vanves presented by a Deputation to 
the National Assembly — Marshal de MacMahon's Order of 
the Day — Explosion of the Cartridge Manufactory in the 
Avenue Eapp — The blame thrown upon the National 
Assembly by the Commune — Sacrilege at Notre Dame des 
Victoii'cs — Cluseret tried and set at liberty by the Com- 
mune — Arrest of Rochefort at Meaux — His entrance into 
Versailles 233 



CHAPTEE IX. 



Porte St. Cloud — Communication of M. Ducatel — Entrance of 
the Troops into Paris — Fourth Army Corps — Army of 
Reserve — General Ladmirault at the Gates of Passy and 
Auteuil — Entrance of General de Cissey — Arrest of Assi — 
Entrance of the Troops long unknown in the City — Plan 
of Attack — March of the different Corps — Occupation of the 
Park Monceaux — Confusion at the Hotel de Ville — Erec- 
tion of Barricades— Violent Proclamations — Melancholy 
appearance of the City — Deputations to the Hotel de ViEe 
— Orders given by Delescluze — Evacuation of the Palais 
de rindustrie and Ministry of the Interior — Fighting in 
the Faubourg St. Honore — At the Rue d'Anjou — In the 
Boulevard Haussman — Investment of Montmartre — Left 
bank of the Seine — Barricades constructed — Manifestation 
in favor of the Government 281 



Xil - CONTEJSTTS. 



CHAPTEE X. 

PAGE 

Attack on tlie Place Clicliy — Tlie Rue Lepic — Manner of At- 
tack — Assault of the Moulin-de-la-Galette — Volunteers of 
the Seine — Capture of Montmartre — The Barricades of the 
exterior Boulevards taken — Boulevard Magenta — Death 
and burial of Dombrowski — Place de la Concorde — Chapelle 
Expiatoire carried by the Troops — Fighting in the Boule- 
vard Malesherbes — Places de la Madeleine and Concorde 
taken — Conflagration in the Eue Royale — Persons smoth- 
ered in the flames — Ministry of 'Marine — Ministry of 
Finances — Conflagration of the Tuileries — The Louvre 
saved — Barricade of the Place de I'Opera — Church of the 
Trinity — Chaussee d'Antin — Place Vendome taken — The 
Bourse saved — Bank of France bravely defended — Cruelty 
of the Insurgents — Combat at Montparnasse and in the 
Rue de Rennes — Defeat of the Insurgents — The Croix 
Rouge taken — Place Saint-Salpice — Conflagrations on the 
left bank — Montrouge — Frightful Slaughter at the Church 
of Saint-Pierre — Government Circular — The Expiatory 
Chapel — Barricades erected during the night — Assassina- 
tion of Chaudey — His Funeral — Attempt made by several 
Communists to Escape 300 



CHAPTER XI. 



Paris on the Morning of the 34th — Incendiary Orders — Pro- 
clamation to the Soldiers — M. Thiers' Speech in the As- 
sembly — Porte St. Denis — The Theatre of the Porte St. 
Martin set on flre — Massacre of Women and Children — 
The Hostages transferred to La Roquette — Massacre of 
the Archbishop and five other persons — Monseigneur Dar- 
boy — M. Duguerry — President Bonjean— Visit to the Arch- 



. COITTENTS. xiii 

PAGE 

bishop — Progress on the right bank — Saint Eustache — 
The Palais Eoyale in flames — Occupation of the Faubouro- 
Saint-Germain — The Pantheon taken — Explosion of a 
Powder Magazine — Arrest and Execution of Raoul Rigault 
— His Character — His Extravagance — Cannonade from 
Montmartre — Night of the 24th — Conflagration of the 
Palace of Justice — The Prisoners of the Conciergerie 839 



CHAPTER XII. 



Government Circular — Capture of the Butte-aux-Cailles— The 
Gobelins taken, but in flames — Fall of the Forts Bicetre 
and Ivry — Massacre of Dominicans — Death of MilHere^— Of 
Valles— General de Cissey — His brilliant Career — Capture 
of the Hotel de Ville — The building in ruins — Advance on 
the Place de la Bastille — Attack on the Ansterlitz Bridge 
— The Mazas prisoners released — Their ^ death — Citizen 
Vincent — The Grenier d'Abondance in flames — Despatch 
of Ferre to Delescluze — The Chateau d'Eau — Artifices of 
the Commune — The Boulevard Magenta — Capture of the 
Chateau d'Eau — Death of Delescluze — Papers found on 
his Person — Large number of Prisoners taken — Prepara- 
tions for blowing up the neighborhood — Place du TrSne — ' 
More victims at La Roqnette — The remaining Prisoners 
erect Barricades within the building — Some of them leave 
the Prison and are murdered — Announcement made by 
the Minister of War in the National Assembly — Circular 
of M. Jules Favre to French Representatives at Foreign 
Courts — Answer of the Belgian and Spanish Governments 
— ^Protest of M. Victor Hugo— He is Ejected from Belgium 
— Conflagration of the Docks of La Villette — Offers of 
Firemen made by the English and Belgian Govern- 
ments 393 



XIV CONTENTS. 



CHAPTEE XIII. 

PAGE 

The Line of Battle — Boulevard Eicliard-Lenoir — Capture of 
.the Buttes Chaumont — Resistance at Pere-Lachaise — Ap- 
pearance of the Cemetery — Taking of La Villette — Govern- 
ment Circular — Hostile attitude of Belleville — Rage of the 
Insurgents — Belleville Conquered — Circular issued by M. 
Thiers — Proclamations of Marshal de MacMahon — ^Vicar 
Lamazou's Letter — Military Decrees — Arms taken from 
the Insurgents— Paris divided into four Military Depart- 
ments — Aspect of the City — The Louvre — The Tuileries — 
The Palais-Royal— The Hotel de Ville— Escape of the 
Archives — The Bank of France — The Palais de Justice — 
The Legion of Honor — The ConseU d'Etat and the Cour 
des Comptes — Cost of the Commune to the City of Paris — 
Strangers of the Commune 435 



CHAPTEE XIV. 

Projet de loi concerning the Hostages — Funeral Services of the 
Archbishop and the other victims, celebrated at Notre- 
Dame — Immense number of Prisoners captured by the 
Government — Description of the Camp at Satory — Audacity 
of a Communist — Fate of the Members of the Commune — 
Billioray — Gambon — Eudes — Okolowitch — Mathieu — ^Var- 
lin — Jourde — Johannard — La Cecilia — Treilhard — Paschal 
Grousset — Regere — Vesinier — Verdure — Courbet — Rossel 
— ^Vermorel — Cluseret — Dufil — Langelle — Razoua — Roche- 
fort — His Ingratitude to his Father — Letter of Henri V. — 
M. Ducatel made Knight of the Legion of Honor — The 
American Minister in Paris — His Letter concerning the 
Archbishop — First Condemnation of the Councils of War — 
Conclusion 483 



CHAPTER I. 

Causes of the insurrection— War -with Prussia— Fall of the Empire— Clause in 
the Treaty of Brussels, leaving the National Guard in arms— Letter of Prince 
Napoleon to Jules Favre- Mistake made hy Jules Favre in signing the 
treaty— Fears entertained regarding the return of the soldiers— Weakness 
shown by the Government— Council of Ministers held at Versailles— Meeting 
of National Guards at Montmartre— Election of members for the Central 
Committee— A Prefect of Police appointed by the Government— Protest of 
the National Guards— They insist upon their right to elect municipal oillcere 
—They protest against the introduction of regular troops, into the city— Or- 
ganization of the National Guard— Necessity for its dissolution— Eefusal of 
the Guards to deliver up their guns— The Government proposes to stop their 
pay — Prussian sentry killed by a National Guard— Arrest of the latter — ^Arrest 
of two Germans by the malcontents— Their trial and condemnation by the 
Central Committee— Their release— Conditions of their release unfulfilled by 
the Prussians— Proclamation of M. Thiers— Proclamation to the National 
Guards— Determination of the Government to subdue the insurrection- 
Attempt made to secure the guns in the Place des Vosges— They are re- 
moved to Belleville— Erection of barricades— Occupation of Montmartre by 
the troops — Mismanagement shown — Hostile attitude assumed by the Na- 
tional Guard— They oppose the removal of the guns— Eefusal of the soldiers 
to advance— The 88th regiment of the line fraternizes with the insurgents — 
Withdrawal of the troops who remain faithful— They are fired upon by the 
insurgents. 

THE unfortunate war which France declared against 
Germany in the month of July 1870, was indirectly 
the cause of the late insurrection, the most formidable and 
criminal the world has ever seen. The head that had so 
long controlled the ruthless desperadoes of Paris, most of 
whom have by this time expiated their -fearful crimes, was . 
in exile — the defeat of Sedan had set them at liberty. 

Although the insurgents had always been strictly op- 
posed to the Empire, they were the first and loudest in 
their shouts of ''On to Berlin" when marching through 
the boulevards, although the last to try and get there ; 
and happy were they at the defeat of the brave and gallant 
army, overmatched by numbers and military organization. 

After the overthrow of the Imperial dynasty, September 
4th, 1870, by a greater coiip d'etat than that practiced by 



16 - THE PARIS COMMTI^E. 

the Emperor, the chiefs of that movement, many of whom 
were leaders in the late insurrection, proclaimed to the 
world that JSTapoleon III was the prime mover in the 
declaration of war. Most people, residents of France, 
knew to the contrary; the English Grovernment knew 
to the contrary when Lord Lyons' dispatches were read in 
the House of Commons, declaring that the French people 
had taken the reins out of the Emperor's hands. The 
armies of the Empire were defeated, the Eepublic was 
proclaimed, its armies defeated, its military and political 
leaders overpowered by the surrender of Paris and the 
treaty of Brussels — then was committed the crowning 
error of leaving armed a National Guard, a large portion 
of which was the refuse of France, and the scum of dif- 
ferent European countries, who, getting the uj)per hand 
of the more respectable portion of the Eepublicans in the 
city, loosened the hagne of some thirty thousand of its 
frequenters, and, led by instigators of murder and rebellion 
— assassins like Eudes and Megy — released from prison 
by the Committee of National Defence, in which they had 
been confined under the Empire, committed, under the 
name, and for the purpose of protecting the Eepublic, 
every species of crime and blasphemy. 

Prince Napoleon, cousin of the Emperor, and who, in 
the event of the death of the Prince Imperial, would be 
the next heir to the Imperial crown, addressed the follow- 
ing letter to Jules Favre, in which he accused that states- 
man with all the misery lately brought upon France. Its 
publication will throw considerable light on the origin of 
events proposed to be illustrated : 

PEIIfCE NAPOLEOI^'S LETTEE. 

" London, May, 1871. 

" Peace is signed with the conqueror. Paris, the great 
capital, burns — its finest edifices, which have existed for 



PKINCE NAPOLEON"'S LETTER, 17 

centuries, are reduced to aslies — blood flows in torrents — 
your work is complete. 

" The affliction which oppresses every French mind 
ought not to obscure one's reason, which has the right to 
demand from you an account of the disasters which you 
have accumulated. 

" The 4th September — the armistice discussed at Fer- 
rieres — the defence of Paris — the preliminaries of Ver- 
sailles — the 18th March — the peace of Frankfort — the 
burning of the metropolis; — such are your ill-omened 
dates. History will call you Vliomme fatal, and will find 
in you only one motive — hate for the name of Napoleon. 

"The disastrous war commenced the 19th July, 1870, 
by the Empire, terminated on the 10th of May by the 
government without name, to which you belong. What 
is that regime? Is it the national defence? No; — for 
you only capitulated. Is it a national restoration ? No ; 
for disorganization and anarchy have seized on France. 
Is it a Monarchy? No. Is it a Eepublic? Still less. 
Is it liberty ? Certainly not. Look at the elections op- 
pressed by decrees of ostracism, withdrawn at the last 
hour, after having perverted the choice of the citizens. 

" All those are the evils accumulated on one another by 
the absence of order, security, liberty, and strength. 

" Let us go over the steps by which you conducted us 
to the bottom of the abyss. 

" On the 4th September you proposed the deposition of 
the Emperor. The insurrection, led on by you, drove 
away your colleagues; you violated your oath, and you 
usurped power at the Hotel de Ville against universal 
suflrage. 

" The Empire had committed faults, our defeats were 
great, but our disasters date from you — to each, his share. 
Doubtless the error was most unfortunate to count too 
much on the forces of France, and to commit in 1870 the 



18 THE PABIS COMMUNE. 

mistake made by Prussia in 1806 ; to think too mucli of 
the victories of the great Republic and the first Empire ; 
to forget too much the powerful enemy we had to combat; 
to contemplate the Crimea of 1854 and the Italy of 1859, 
instead of looking firmly at the strength of Germany* 
in 1870, and the remarkable men whom she had at 
her head. 

" I do not wish to deny, nor can I, those faults which 
the Napoleons pay still more dearly for by their heart-felt 
grief than by their exile ; but the Emperor did not seek 
to cling to the throne by a peace which might save his 
power in imposing heavy sacrifices on France. 

"At all events, we have one consolation, that of having, 
fallen with the country, whereas your elevation dates from 
her misfortunes. 

" Better than any one, you know the conditions which 
Napoleon III could have obtained from Prussia at Sedan ; 
certainly they were hard, but incomparably less so than 
those accepted by you. Our sacrifices were not to be 
compared to those which you signed, without reckoning 
that we should have avoided the months of disorder 
entailed by the government of the non-defence of Paris, 
and by the dictatorship of those of your colleagues who 
emigrated in balloons to pillage and o]3press our provinces. 
Down to the fall of the Empire, we had suffered great 
misfortunes, but capable of being repaired, as may be 
found in the history of many great nations. Since the 
4th September, on the contrary, those which have occurred 
can no longer be so termed — they are disasters unexampled 
in history. 

" To the Empire falls the responsibility of faults, to you 
that of positive disasters; and I ask, if, amongst the 
former, the greatest is not to have tolerated your criminal 
attempts in the interior. 

"The inevitable consequence of your usurpation was 



THE PRINCE'S SARCASM. 19 

the revolution of tlie 18tli March, which you now accuse, 
and the burning of Paris, for which you are responsible. 

To defend Paris, you confined yourself to proclaiming 
fictitious successes. You did not utilize those terrible 
but vigorous elements which you have unchained, and 
which lately held the soldiers of France in check during 
two months; and, however they were the same men, 
misled since by democratic folly, amongst whom you 
could have excited the patriotic passion, they were the 
same national guards, cannons, muskets, forts, ramparts, 
barricades, all those forces which remained paralyzed in 
your weak hands, and which might have been sublime 
against the foreigner. 

" Know this fact, that the Napoleons would have been 
patriotic enough to have blessed your triumph and their 
fall, if you had freed France, but history will say that 
having promised to save the country, you destroyed it. 

" In the interval, you went to Ferrieres to shed tears ! 
and I really pity you. You pronounced there the danger- 
ous words which are not those of a statesman: 'Not a 
stone of our fortresses, nor an inch of our territory.' 
Your conscience ought to feel oppressed by them. For 
the honor of a French Minister, you should have had the 
modesty to place some other name than your own at the 
foot of the act recording the grievous sacrifices rendered 
indispensable by often-repeated faults. 

" At Versailles the conqueror proposed the disarming 
of the National Guard or of the army, and you chose that 
of the soldiers, because you feared Bonapartist tendencies 
among the troops; at the same time that you never paid 
the slightest attention to the elements of disorder in 
an irritated crowd, dissatisfied with itself, badly led, 
humiliated, and unfortunate, all of which causes were 
destined to lead to that terrible explosion of the Commune. 

'•' You sold France to the representative of the enemy. 



20 THE PARIS COMMUl^E. 

in exchange for your personal Eepublic. "Why did you 
give way ? I will tell you — because the Foreign Minister 
hinted at the possibility of assembling the former Legis- 
lative Body. Then you signed everything. 

" To continue. Your incapacity led to the triumph of 
the Commune in Paris, and to daily increasing demands 
on the part of the Germans. The negotiations languished 
at Brussels, and nothing was accomphshed. You went to 
Frankfort, but what was done there? You signed an 
aggravation of the preliminaries of peace, first, by shorten- 
ing the time for the payment of the indemnity ; secondly, 
by prolonging until December, 1871, the occupation of 
the northern forts, which were to have been evacuated 
after the payment of the first 500 millions ; and, thirdly, 
by not making Prussia take to her charge so much of the 
former national debt of France as belonged to the depart- 
ments ceded, in proportion to the territory and the 
number of the inhabitants, which is a principle of public 
law, and which was admitted on the cession of Lombardy, 
Savoy, Mce, and Venetia. 

"Did not Prussia in 1866 accept the liabilities of Hanover, 
Electoral Hesse, and the G-rand-Duchy of Nassau ? The 
Prussian negotiators, even in their victorious ascendency, 
could not openly refuse you that point. You bowed your 
head because you feared an appeal to the French nation. 
You then conceded everything ; and again at Frankfort, 
as at Versailles, you sacrificed France to your inveterate 
hatred. The mode of proceeding never varied to obtain 
everything from your government; all that was required 
was to show you the possibility of the triumph of the 
national will. 

" I do not condemn those who, in a terrible conjuncture, 
accepted the preliminaries, perhaps inevitable, of Ver- 
sailles, and still less the Assembly which ratified them ; I 
do not consider I have the right to do so. But you are 



A liTEW EL AG HECESSAEY. 21 

inexcusable for having brought about the 4th September, 
badly defending Paris, engaging the country by empty 
phrases, maintaining an excited population in arms, which 
were useless against the foreign enemy, and a danger to 
itself; for haying aggravated the preliminaries by the 
.treaty of peace; and, lastly, for having ended by the 
destruction of Paris. 

" You have filled up the measure. France is indignant, 
and posterity will judge you. In the darkness in which 
the country is now plunged ; in presence of those maniacs 
who, in their fury, burn our public buildings, throw down 
the column, and break up that glorious bronze, the frag- 
ments of which inflict a wound on the heart of each of 
our soldiers, some issue of safety must be found. It is 
not in the intrigues of pretenders, but in the will of the 
country ; apart from that, there can be only conflict and 
confusion. 

" The wished-for haven is not to be found in a principle 
which is the negation of modern society; in the white 
flag which Prance knows no longer, nor in a denial of 
universal sufirage ; in a white terror succeeding the red ; 
in the fusion of the contending claimants, and the return 
of the French Stuarts. No; — to a new society a fresh 
symbol is necessary. "What is required, and modern right 
demands it, is the abdication of all before the will of the 
people, freely and directly expressed. Once more I say, 
apart from that, there is only chaos. 

"Monarchical faith cannot be decreed. The only basis 
on which a government in France can establish its prin- 
ciple, and the only source from which it can derive force 
and legality, is an appeal to the people, which we demand, 
and which France ought to exact. 

" Napoleo:n" ( Jeeome.)" 



22 THE PAEIS COMMUNE. 

Many who are not the political opponents of Jules Favre 
blame him much for his course of action while he remained 
in power ; it would certainly have been in better taste, had 
he permitted some other Frenchman to sign his name to 
a treaty of peace which gave away many inches of terri- 
tory and numerous stones of fortresses ; but he was fond of 
power and wished to retain it — so fond of it, that at his 
request, the Germans permitted the National Guards to 
retain their arms, most of whom were the same men who 
attempted to overthrow the government during the funeral 
of Victor K"oir, and who were ignominiously defeated in 
their attempt to establish a commune during the siege ; 
but these men were Favre's electors and the electors of 
Gambetta and Eochefort, and they must be armed, as the 
soldiers of the empire would soon be back from Germany, 
and they must be prepared to meet them. It is to be 
hoped that the result of the late struggle will prove to the 
advocates of socialistic and communist ideas that the good 
sense of the people of France will never permit a repeti- 
tion of the past lamentable events ; and should an attempt 
again be made, the recollection of the destruction of prop- 
erty and loss of life, of the blasphemy and horror, will 
cause every citizen with a social position to maintain and 
a dollar to lose, to rise and crush the monster in its in- 
fancy. Had this been done by the government of M, 
Thiers, how different would have been the result ; but M. 
Thiers was old and tender-hearted, and Favre had too 
much consideration for his friends ; and as late as March 
16, two days before the outbreak, a council of ministers 
was held at Versailles, when it was determined, " seeing 
the state of affairs at Montmartre, to let matters take 
their natural course and not interfere," and the Cotisti- 
tutionnel, a leading Paris journal, in alluding to this resolu- 
tion, observed : " The majority of the Paris population 
will applaud this resolution, and the provinces also, when 



GENERAL VALENTIN. 23 

better informed as to the scope of manifestations which 
haye caused too much alarm, will shortly admit that tem- 
porization was, after all, the best course to adopt. 

On the same day a meeting was held, in the open air, 
by the ]N"ational Guards at Montmartre. The principal 
business was the election of members of the Central Com- 
mittee ; Garibaldi was unanimously elected general-in- 
chief of the National Guard ; Flourens also was elected to 
an important office ; and all present pledged themselves to 
obey in future no orders but those of the Committee. 
Generals Paladine and Vinoy were declared to be dis- 
missed from their functions, and these were generals 
commanding the French army then stationed in Paris; 
and still M. Thiers, the veteran statesman, the head of the 
Erench executive, who had shown such temper, prompti- 
tude and adroitness in all his transactions, who had 
steered the country through its recent crisis, did not have 
the courage to grapple with the rising difficulty. 

The executive government now determined to appoint 
a Prefect of Police, and their choice fell upon General 
Valentin, a former colonel of gendarmerie, a man of fine 
abilities, who had distinguished himself during the siege. 
The National Guard, encamped at Montmartre, protested 
against this appointment — they wished not only to exercise 
military but political rights, and insisted in electing their 
own municipal officers. They also protested against the 
introduction of regular troops into the city — rights which 
neither the city of New York nor London possess — and 
aspired to revive the days of the Eevolutionary Commune. 
Their organization represented the various districts and 
wards of the city, and was originally intended to assist in 
defending the capital against the Prussians. Upon the 
ratification of peace by the National Assembly and the 
withdrawal of the enemy, this organization should have 
been dissolved ; but the chiefs, having the power in their 



24 THE PAEIS COMMUl^E. 

own hands, felt the regular government was not suflficiently 
strong to enforce their surrender, consequently refused to 
break up, and held their own on the heights of Montmar- 
tre and in the quarters of Belleyille and Vilette, the first 
at the north, the other two quarters at the east of the 
city, the residence of the lowest classes of Paris and the, 
hot-hed of insurrections ; and the red flag, the symbol of 
the Commune, remained hoisted on the column of July 
in Place Bastille. The authorities tried to coax them to 
deliver up those cannon of v/hich they had over four hun- 
dred pieces, with an endless stock of ammunition ; but 
they would not be coaxed— they maintained that they were 
Paris, and that Paris v/as Prance, and that an ultra-social 
republic was the only government possible in the country. 

The mutineers had thus organized a Eepublic within a 
Eepublic, setting the authority of the National Govern- 
ment at defiance. It was argued by many of tlie advisors 
of the government that by withholding the pay of thirty 
sous (thirty cents), on which the National Guard had 
been supported from the beginning of the siege, a blood- 
less victory might be obtained, as they Avere still receiving 
this pay from the government against which they were 
almost in open rebellion. Had this been stopped, many 
thought that the workman would be obliged to return to 
his ordinary avocations, from which the government 
allowance had weaned him, or be starved into submission ; 
but the pay was not stopped, and 40,000 men, well 
armed and well fortified, remained at the call of a few 
reckless and desperate individuals, with 100,000 more 
ready to join them on their first success against the 
established authorities. The latter had not long to wait. 

During the first few days of the armistice, a National 
Guard passed the French lines, and fired a revolver at 
a Prussian sentinel, who was mortally wounded. The 
National Guard, who was an officer, was immediately 



THIEES APPEALS TO THE PEOPLE. 25 

arrested, and conyeyed to the fort of Aubervilliers. Some 
time after, two Germans were arrested in Paris by the 
malcontent National Guards, and taken to the Central 
Committee, by which they were tried, and sentenced to 
death the following morning. The Prussian military 
authorities, on learning this fact, demanded the immediate 
restoration of the condemned men. General Paladines 
sent a captain of the staff of the National Guard to claim 
the prisoners ; but the application was refused, the enyoy 
was dismissed, the chiefs declaring that they refused to 
recognize the authority of the General. A Commissary of 
Police was then deputed to continue the negotiation, and 
finally the committee offered to give up the Germans on 
condition that the National Guard above mentioned, who 
was an officer in the 147th battalion, should be set at 
liberty. The offer was accepted by the French authorities, 
and the prisoners were handed over to them. The officer 
was still retained by the Prussians ; and the commander 
of the fort declared that he should be tried by a court- 
martial, and, if found guilty, shot ; whereas the National 
Guards declared they «nly gave up their two prisoners on 
condition that their officer should be set at liberty, and 
were loud in the denunciations of the Government. 
Whereupon M. Thiers, chief of the Executive Power, 
issued, March 17th, the following proclamation : 

" Ii^THABiTANTS OF Paeis, — We address ourselves to 
you, to your reason, to your patriotism, and we hope to be 
heard. Your great city, which can only live by order, is 
being deeply disquieted in some districts. This state of 
things, without spreading to other districts, is, however, 
sufficient to prevent the resumption of labor and comfort. 
For some time past some ill-intentioned persons have, 
under the pretense of resisting the Prussians, who are no 
longer before your walls, constituted themselves masters 

2 



20 THE PARIS COMMUNE. 

of a part of the city, have constructed fortifications on 
whicli tliey keep guard, and on which they force you to 
mount guard witli tliem by order of au unknown commit- 
tee. They pretend alone to command a part of the Na- 
tional Guard,- and do not recognize the authority of Gen- 
eral d'Aurelle des Paladines, who so nobly deserves to be 
at your head. Their wish is to institute a government in 
opposition to the legal government instituted by universal 
suffrage. Those persons who have already done you so 
much harm — those persons who on the 15th of December 
last you yourselves scattered, after they had pretended that 
it was their intention to defend you against the Prussians 
who did but appear inside your walls, and whose final de- 
parture is only delayed by these disorders — those persons 
have turned their guns so that, if they fired, they would 
reduce your homes to ruins, kill your children and your- 
selves. Finally, they have compromised the Eepublic in- 
stead of defending it, because if it once becomes the 
opinion of France that tlie Eepublic is necessarily ac-- 
companied by disorders, the Eepublic is lost. Do not be- 
lieve them. Hear the truth which we tell you in all 
sincerity. The government, established by the entire 
nation, could have retaken the cannon robbed from the 
state, and which actually threaten you. It could have re- 
moved these ridiculous intrenchments which stop your 
commerce, and have placed in the hands of justice the 
criminals who do not fear to make civil war succeed foreign 
war ; but it has wished to give to the deceived time to 
separate from those who deceive them. Still, time is 
granted to the good men to separate from the bad, and 
you are entreated by your love of peace, by your own well- 
being, by the well-being of all France, not to prolong in- 
definitely the duration of this state of things. Commerce 
is stopped ; the shops are deserted ; large orders, which 
would arrive from all parts, are suspended ; your arms are 




A.THIERS 



CKef du PouvQir Execulif 



NATIOliTAL G0VER]Sr3IENT PROCLAMATION. 27 

paralyzed ; credit will not revive in capitals, the govern- 
ment of which, while the territory of the country needs to 
be delivered from the presence of an enemy, hesitates to 
come forward. 

" In your interest, and in that of the city, and in that 
of France, the Government has resolved to act. The 
criminals, who affect to institute a government, must 
be delivered to regular justice, and the cannon taken 
away must be restored to the arsenals. To carry out this 
act of justice and reason, the Government counts upon 
your assistance, and that the good citizens will separate 
from the bad, that they will support instead of resist pub- 
lic opinion, that they will thus hasten to restore peace in 
the city, and render a service to the Eepublic which, in 
the opinion of France, must be ruined by disorder. 
Parisians ! we speak to you thus, because we esteem your 
good sense, wisdom and patriotism, but having given you 
this warning, we shall proceed to have recourse to force, 
because there must be peace at all hazards without a day's 
delay, so that order, the condition of well-being, may re- 
turn — order, complete, immediate, and unalterable." 

The following proclamation, signed by all the members 
of the National Government, was posted during the day 
on the walls of Paris : 

" National Guards of Paris, — An absurd report is 
being circulated that the Government is making prepara- 
tion for a coup d'etat. The Government of the Republic 
neither has nor can have any other object than the safety 
of the Republic. The measures it has taken were indis- 
pensable for the maintenance of order ; it intended and 
still intends thoroughly to put down the Insurrectionary 
Committee, whose members are almost all unknown to 
the inhabitants of Paris; they represent nothing but 



28 THE PAEIS COMMUNE. 

Communist doctrines, and would hand over Paris to pillage 
and send France to lier grave, if the National Guard and 
the army did not rise to defend with one common accord 
their country and the Eepublic." 

The government now feeling with justice that they 
could no longer countenance the presence in Paris of a 
party which openly defied them and held the city in ter- 
rorism, resolved on the morning of the 18th of March to 
take possession of the cannon planted on Montmartre, and 
reduce to obedience the National Guard who presumed to 
dictate to the authorities. An attempt had been made the 
evening before to obtain possession of fifty-six guns in the 
Place des Vosges by a number of artillery-drivers with 
horses, protected by a detachment of the Eepublican 
Guard, but the National Guard refused to open the gates 
leading to the square, and the regular troops, not wishing 
to assume the responsibility of shedding blood, withdrew. 
These cannon were removed in the night to Belleville and 
the Buttes Chaumont — an elevated portion of the city, in 
the vicinity of P^re la Chaise, and in possession of the 
National Guards — and the Committee of Direction at 
Montmartre were advised of the attempt; so when the 
troops appeared, the sentinels on guard over the artillery, 
were fully prepared to meet them. 

It became absolutely necessary after this failure, and in 
view of the meeting of the National Assembly to be held 
on Monday, to adopt at once a more vigorous course. It 
was accordingly decided, at a meeting of general ofiicers, 
to bring into requisition the whole military force of the 
government, and put an end at once to the existing state 
of affairs. 

At 4 o'clock A.M. the rai^pel was heard in all the 
streets, a sound indicative of barricades and murder. An 
attack was to be simultaneously made, on Montmartre by 



THE SIGNAL OF I K S IT EKE CTI N . 29 

General Sasbielle, of the 2d army corps; another by 
General Faron, on Belleville ; a third by General Wolff, of 
the 1st army corps, on the Place de la Bastille ; and a 
fourth, under General Hanrion, of the same corps, on the 
cite. At 4 o'clock the Buttes of Montmartre were com- 
pletely surrounded by the 88th, 137th and 122d regiments 
of the line, a battalion of the 17th cJiasseurs a pied, and 
a few guardians of the peace. Mitrailleuses were in bat- 
tery in Eue Houdon, Eue "Durantin, Eue des Martyrs, 
and Eue Virginie, seven-pounder guns were planted in all 
streets leading up to Montmartre, and soldiers of the line 
were posted in the streets as sentinels to prevent pedes- 
trians from going towards the Buttes. The windows were 
crowded with spectators, and groups of women and chil- 
dren were formed in the streets discussing, some with 
frightened and others with angry looks, the events which 
were transpiring. 

A regiment of the army of Faidherbe, the 88th of the 
line (since disbanded for fraternizing with the insurgents, 
and never more to exist in the French army), which had 
only arrived the day before in Paris, made its appearance 
at the base of Montmartre, and separating into different 
columns, arrived by the Eue Lepic, Chaussee Clignan- 
court, and Boulevard Ornano, forming their junction at 
the Tour of Solferino, the culminating point of the Buttes, 
which was occupied by some fifty National Guards, who 
were disarmed before they had time to give the understood 
signal. 

This signal consisted in three discharges of cannon, 
fired in quick succession. From this moment the heights 
were occupied in a military point of view. 

The women of the neighborhood were loud in their 
denunciations against the National Guards who had sur- 
rendered, declaring, if they had been left in charge, the 
canaille of Versailles would have met with some resist- 



30 THE PAKIS COMMUNE. 

ance. One immense yirago was gesticulating in a most 
fearful manner, calling the regular officers of the line 
scoundrels, assassins, and dogs. 

There seems to have been some mismanagement in the 
organization of the plan of attack, as it is evident that 
many of the cannon seized at Montmartre as early as 5 
o'clock A.M. were still guarded by the troops at 8 a.m. ; 
no horses, or not sufficient in number, had arrived to re- 
move them all. At this hour the National Guards began 
to show themselves, one at a time, crawling out of all 
sorts of places, to mix with a crowd of other guards and 
soldiers of the line coming up the hill with their muskets 
la crosse en Tair (reversed), shouting " Vive la Ligne,'' and 
" Vive la Garde Nationale" while others, who had captured 
a lieutenant-colonel of the line, were shouting " a raort ! 
amort!" and not a soldier came to succor him. Seeing 
matters were assuming a serious aspect, the regulars in 
charge of the cannon commenced harnessing the horses 
to the gun-carriages, and some twelve pieces began mov- 
ing down toward the city by the Eue Lepic, but at the 
corner of the Eue des Abbesses another crowd opposed 
the passage of the guns. Men, women and children 
caught hold of the bridles of the horses, and the artillery- 
men, not wishing to run over them, desisted in their at- 
tempt to make a passage. A moment after, a company of 
sixty infantry arrived to protect the artillerymen and 
force a passage. They had hardly commenced to move 
when a heavy column of the National Guards of Belle- 
ville arrived to help their friends of Montmartre. At the 
same moment General Susbielle, appearing with an escort 
of gendarmerie and Chasseurs d'Afrique, gave them an 
order to form in sections and occupy Place Pigalle. The 
National Guards commenced now to arrive in great num- 
bers, fraternizing with troops of the line who had either 
reversed their muskets or abandoned them altogether. 



THE PIEST CO]SrFLlCT. 31 

The General gave the order to the troops of the line to 
advance and open a passage for the guns ; the soldiers re- 
fused to move, shonting "Vive la Garde Nationale!" The 
Chasseurs cVAfrique received the order to " draw sabres," 
but the line refused to open for them, and several shots 
were fired from the body of insurgents, when the captain 
gave the order "En avant!^' and all the swords 
issued from their scabbards. " Vive la Bepublique ! " cried 
the crowd, " La Ligne et la Garde Nationale!" The 
chasseurs hesitated, as before them were many men of the 
regular army, and in the end they sheathed their swords. 
" E71 avant!" repeated the captain, when several balls 
whistled past his head. Five or six men only followed 
him, but they were received with blows from the soldiers' 
muskets ; one of the insurgents seized the reins of the 
captain's horse, but he fell, his head cleft in two ; another 
grasped the reins on the other side, and in an instant the 
arm was severed from the body, and for a moment still 
hung quivering to the reins ; two others shared the fate 
of the first, when the rider and horse both fell pierced by 
a shot at the same time, the insurgents discharging their 
IDieces in the midst of the chasseurs and gendarmes, kill- 
ing and wounding great numbers. The attack of the 
regular troops on the crowd was repulsed, the fraternizing 
soldiers firing on the former without hesitation, the 
crowd shouting " Vive la RepuUique!" 

The excitement of the masses was now extreme. The 
152d battalion of the National Guards arrived, having 
forced a post of the line and captured a mitrailleuse. 
Two other posts in that vicinity were also forced, and the 
crowd received the insurgents with "Vive la FepuMique!" 
The 88th regiment of the line, which was stationed at the 
corner of Boulevard Ornano and Eochechouart, withdrew 
their bayonets from their muskets, shouting " Vive la 
Garde Nationale!" The officers endeavored to resist, 



32 THE PARIS COMMUKE. 

but were made prisoners and carried off. The soldiers 
then fraternized with the new comers, and seizing two 
mitrailleuses, were joined by a portion of the 87th of the 
line, to whom the pieces had been confided. The officers 
then, in consequence of the wavering of the troops who had 
up to this time remained faithful, or in consequence of the 
menacing appearance of a large and compact body of 
insurgents from Belleville, issued the order to retire, and 
thus permitted the new comers to occupy the place with- 
out firing another shot. At the same time the artillery- 
men at the corner of the streets removed their pieces 
rapidly towards the Place de Clichy. This retrograde 
movement began between eight and nine o'clock ; and the 
calm and sensible citizens of this quarter had commenced 
to congratulate themselves that the horrors of the morning 
had subsided, when from the Place Pigalle a mitrailleuse 
was heard belching out wounds and death. Belleville 
representatives were firing on troops of the line who 
refused to fraternize. A panic now seized the crowd, and 
the masses fled in every direction. 



CHAPTER II. 

Elation of the National Guards— Erection of new barricades— Battery surren- 
dered by its escort to the insurgents— Arrest of Generals Lecomte and 
Thomas — Their assassination — Brave attitude of the murdered offlcere- Two 
aides-de-camp of General Lecomte narrowly escape the same fate — The Cen- 
tral Committee assume the direction of affairs— Excitement at Montrouge — 
Barricades erected in the Faubourg Saint-Antoine — Gendarmes dismounted 
and disarmed — Proclamation of the Government— Events at the Hotel de 
Ville — ^AU access to the Buttes Chaumont forbidden by the National Guards 
— Two regiments of the Une surrounded and disarmed— The insurgents take 
possession of the Place Vendome — Evacuation of the 11th Arrondissement — 
Meeting of Paris Deputies, Mayors and Adjoints— Concessions proposed to 
the Government and accepted, but withdrawn after news received of the 
murder of Generals Lecomte and Thomas— The Central Committee take pos- 
session of the Hotel de Ville — Arrest of General Chanzy— Official journal 
seized by the insurgents— Proclamation of the Central Committee— City en- 
tirely abandoned by the troops— Public buildings occupied by the insurrec- 
tion—Decree for the elections — Communication cut off with the provinces — 
The Government officials summoned to Versailles — The Prussians return to 
St. Denis — Their despatch to M. Jules Eavre- His reply — Great military 
preparations— Sitting of the Assembly — The department of the Seine de- 
clared in a state of siege — Children of General Lecomte adopted by the 
country — Prussian communication to the Central Committee — Eeply of 
Paschal Grousset. 

PLACE PIGALLE, the centre of the Montmartre 
insurrection, had now commenced to assume its 
ordinary movement. The corpse of the brave but un- 
fortunate officer of chasseurs had been deposited in one 
of the wooden huts constructed for the lodgement of 
soldiers, and a crowd of idlers passed in to see the victim. 
Some women cried " Vive la ligne!" to soldiers of the 
88th who had fired on the staff and the chasseurs, to 
which one of them responded that he would sooner shoot 
himself than shoot his countrymen; and what cowards 
and canaille his officers were. 

What a change since the morning. The streets so 
deserted, except an occasional red-trousered soldier of the 



34 THE PAEIS C0MMU2TE. 

line, "were now swarming with National Guards flushed 
with victory, swaggering round superintending the con- 
struction of "barricades, erecting batteries in which to 
place the captured cannon. Instead of the government 
blocking up every street, and placing a cordon of soldiers 
around Montmartre, with cannon pointing up, the in- 
surgents were blockading them now with barricades and 
batteries, in which v/ere guns pointing down! Drums 
were beating, trumpets braying, with every indication of 
very serious work. 

Several pieces of the artillery of General Susbielle were 
lost while the cannon were being removed from the 
Buttes. Some boys had cut the traces, unseen by the 
drivers, and a number of National Guards suddenly fell 
on the guns and carried them off. 

By two o'clock the troops had all been withdrawn from 
the vicinity of Montmartre. Several cannon which the 
artillerymen had retaken were abandoned by them near 
the Mairie, where the women and children precipitated 
themselves on the pieces to preserve them. 

At this moment the Butte Montmartre and the artillery 
in the intrenched camp were completely in the power of 
the insurgents, who continued the erection of barricades 
in view of a renewed attack. The horse of the captain of 
chasseurs was cut up by the soldiers of the line who had 
mutinied, and sold on the Place, the proceeds of which 
they used for the purchase of liquor to cement their 
criminal union with the insurgents, who assured them 
the committee had plenty of money, or would soon have ; 
and that the continuance of their pay, or better, was a 
certainty, with less to do and better food. The 100th and 
181st battalion of the National Guard now arrived by 
the Rue des Martyrs, to take possession of the Heights 
of Montmartre. They were received with the loudest 
applause. 



LECOMTE AND THOMAS ARRESTED. 35 

Captain Douradon, of the artillery, had been sent the 
previous night "vvitli a battery to the Boulevard Eoclie- 
chouart. General Lecomte sent to liim in the morning 
for two pieces to place them nearer to the Butte. The 
guns were escorted by a company of the line to sup- 
port them. When the insurgents appeared, these soldiers 
raised the butts of their muskets in the air, and the 
cannons were taken by the rioters. The General, who 
occupied the Tour of Solferino, was arrested by some 
National Guards, and conducted to the Chateau Eouge, 
his only crime being that he refused to cry " Vive la 
RepuUique ! " on compulsion. A short time after General 
Clement Thomas, lately commander-in-chief of the National 
Guards of Paris, was also made prisoner. He was passing! 
in an inoffensive manner through the Eue Marie- An- 
toinette, when one of the insurgents having recognized 
him by his large white beard, went straight to him, saying, 

" You are General Clement Thomas ? I don't think I 
can be mistaken. That beard of yours betrays you." 

" Well, supposing I am General Thomas. Have I not 
always done my duty ? " 

"You are a traitor and a miserable!" said the in- 
surgent, grasping the old man by the collar. He was 
immediately assisted by others, who helped to drag the 
General in the direction of Eue des Eosiers, in No. 6 of 
which street the Eepublican Central Committee of Mont- 
martre was holding its sittings. After the parody of a trial, 
he and General Lecomte were both hauled along the 
garden, and being tied together, were placed against the 
wall to be shot. An officer of the Garibaldian Legion im- 
plored to have the execution suspended, but his entreaties 
were drowned in shouts of '^A mort!" "A mort!" In 
this supreme and horrible hour General Thomas exhibited 
proofs of heroic bravery. He stood facing his murderers, 
holding his hat in his hand. Instead of firing in a body. 



3G THEPAEIS COMMUNE. 

according to military usage, tliey fired one after the other. 
Each ball that struck him, some in the arms, others in 
the legs, caused a convulsive tremor of the body. The 
only words he uttered were '^ Laches ! laches ! " (" Cowards ! 
cowards!" — a word of much stronger significance in the 
French than in the English language). At the end of 
the fourteenth shot he was still standing erect — still hold- 
ing his hat in his hand, regarding his executioners with a 
look of horror. The fifteenth shot struck him under the 
right eye, when he fell to the ground. 

General Lecomte was very pale. He stood erect — his 
arms crossed over his breast. Ho uttered a few words of 
expostulation, but fell almost instantly, pierced by a bullet 
behind the ear. It is said that both their corpses were 
then mutilated with bayonet thrusts. 

There is a question whether General Lecomte had even 
a mock trial. Some say yes — others, no; but the fact 
that a lieutenant of the 269th battalion, who was present 
at these massacres, cried out, " To be shot without being 
heard! 'tis too horrible!" makes one incline to the latter 
report. 

The two aides-de-camp of General Lecomte were about 
to undergo the same fate as their General, when they were 
saved by the intervention of a young man of seventeen, 
who cried out that what was taking place was horrible, 
and that no one knew the men who were ordering them 
to be put to death. He succeeded in saving the lives of 
the two young oflScers. 

Towards four o'clock, the National Guards of Mont- 
martre, who had collected since the forenoon, commenced 
a descent on Paris. About three battalions took the Eue 
des Martyrs, where the groups cried out, without much 
enthusiasm, " Vive Garibaldi!" "Vive la RepuUique ! " 
The first body of these men marched very well, the second 
worse, and the third carried their weapons with a careless- 



TnE INSURGENT H E A D Q U A E T E R S. 37 

ness and indifference Avhich had nothing terrifying, except 
to those in the rear. 

At two o'clock the Central Committee of Montmartre 
had assumed the entire direction of affairs — ^had appointed 
committees of defence and of barricades — many of which 
were erected there and in other parts of Paris. A body 
of men, protected by a line of National Guards, raised a 
barricade at the end of the Eue des Martyrs, at the 
junction of that street with the Bouleyards Rochechouart 
and Clichy. Behind it was placed a cannon on its car- 
riage. Other barricades were erected on Rue Germain- 
Pilon, as also on all the different strategic points in that 
quarter of Paris. 

The quarter Montrouge was also up and stirring ; and 
though it had surrendered its cannon to the authorities a 
few days before, at two o'clock p. m. the Barriere-d'Enfer 
was in the hands of its battalions ; the women and 
children were all in the streets; the walls were covered 
with proclamations from a committee stating that the 
National Guards were the protectors of the Republic; 
and that their oflBcers ought to be appointed by them, 
and them alone. The streets were crowded with the 
insurgents coming and going to the headquarters of their 
commander-in-chief, which were situated in a shop in 
Rue Rochefoucault ; and their appearance was anything 
but encouraging to the friends of law and order. They 
all carried chassepots, but that was the only thing in 
which they were all alike. They mostly wore slouched 
hats, with long hair. Your true insurgent favors that 
style; and in the absence of cartridge-pouches, stuffed 
that needful article in their pockets. Many wore high 
boots, with a brace of pistols stuck in vtlieir belts; and a 
line soldier who had become demoralized was a small 
deity among them. The beer and wine shops were all 
doing a thriving business, but their customers did not 



38 THE PARIS COMMUNE. 

have the appearance of men "bent on sustaining the 
proper authorities. 

In the Faubourg St. Antoine numerous barricades were 
raised. One of the largest was in the Eue de Charonne, 
near tlie fountain ; it was defended by several cannon 
from La Eoquette, and was manned by National Guards. 
All circulation was prevented, and well-dressed people 
were obliged to shoulder a musket or be sent to work on 
some barricade ; mounted gendarmes were obliged to sur- 
render their horses and sabres. Barricades were erected 
on Rue Piat with one piece of cannon, on Eue Delamarre, 
Eue Godfrey, Eue de la Eoquette, Eue de Plandres, Eue 
Vincent de Paul, Faubourg du Temple, Faubourg Saint 
Martin, Place de la Barriere Blanche, and several other 
points of importance. 

In the course of the afternoon the following proclama- 
tion, addressed to the National Guards of the Seine, was 
posted up in Paris : 

Paeis, 18th Marcli 1871. if 

" The Government calls on you to defend your city, 
your homes, your property, and your families. Some mis- 
guided men, placing themselves above the law and obeying 
only a secret authority, are pointing against Paris the 
guns which have been saved from the Prussians. They 
are resisting by force the National-Guard and the army. 
Will you permit such an act ? WiU you in sight of the 
foreigners, ready to take advantage of our disorders, 
abandon Paris to sedition ? If you do not stifle it in the 
bud, the Eepublic will be lost, and perhaps France also ! 
You have your future in your hands. The Government 
has allowed you to retain your arms. Take them up reso- 
lutely to re-establish the regime of the law, and to save 
the Eepublic from anarchy, which would be its ruin. Eally 



DEPUTATIONS AT THE HOTEL DE VILLE, 39 

round your chiefs, for it is the only means of escaping 
ruin and the domination of tlie foreigner. 

"Eknest Picaed, 

"Minister of the Interior. 

" D'aueelle, 

General Commanding-in-Chief of the National Guards of the Seine." 

Events of great importance were occurring in other 
parts of the city, away from tlie principal scene of dis- 
turbance. As early as nine o'clock A. il, groups were 
formed in the square before the Hotel de Yille,. discussing 
the events of the morning. The words " treason " and 
" coup d'etat '* being frequently heard. At about half past 
eleven a battalion of the line and one of the National 
Guard, headed by their drums and carrying their muskets 
upside down, arrived to protest against the attack at 
Montmartre. Cries of " Vive la ligne ! " " Vive la Rejm- 
llique ! " were heard on all sides, when suddenly a shot 
was fired by an individual in plain clothes. The mob 
rushed on the aggressor, who was at once seized; some per- 
sons were for throwing him into the river, but moderate 
counsels prevailed and he was removed in custody. An- 
other well-dressed person, about sixty, took advantage of 
a moment of silence to raise the cry of " Vive VEmpereur ! " 
"Alasla RejmUique!" In an instant he was knocked 
down and maltreated by the mob, his clothes being torn 
to shreds. The Office of Public Assistance and the Octroi 
were occupied by regiments of the line, whilst artillery 
and cavalry were massed in the Place of the Hotel de 
Ville. But when calm became re-established General Vinoy 
ordered them to be sent to other points. Later in the 
afternoon another deputation, of about 200 officers of the 
National Guard, line, and franc-tireurs, and accompanying 
several individuals, wounded in the Eue Legendre, came 
to protest against the " surprise" and " treason " of Mont- 
martre. 



40 THE PAEIS COMMUTE. 

At tlie junction of the Boulevards Voltaire (formerly 
Prince Eugene) and Eicliard Lenoir, women and children 
were at work constructing a barricade. All circulation was 
stopped, and about one hundred soldiers who were stationed 
here withdrew to the Bataclan cafe-concert. The entire 
district comprised between the Faubourg St. Martin, Eue 
Lafayette, the outer boulevards and Rues de Flandres, 
d'Allemagne and de Puebla, was entirely closed by double 
barricades, constructed of omnibuses and artillery- wagons 
filled with, paving-stones. All access to the Buttes Chau- 
mont was forbidden by the National Guards, to whom the 
protection of the guns there was confided. 

The regiments of the line, among others the 35th, 
which had occupied the outer boulevards in the morning, 
"were surrounded and confined between the barricades 
until they had given up their arms, when they were set at 
liberty. On the other hand, bodies of well-affected Na- 
tional Guards held various posts of importance. At 5 
o'clock the 6th battalion guarded the Eue Drouot ; the 
10th and 327th the Place de la Bourse ; the 149th the 
Mairie of the Bank Quarter; the 1st and 5th the Place Ven- 
dome ; the 13th on the Eue de la Paix, on the side of the Eue 
Eivoli ; the 12th the Eue de Marengo. Toward six o'clock 
a considerable affluence was to be seen on the Place de 
la Concorde ; several battalions arrived there in succession, 
and among them the 81st, 82d, 131st, 156th, 165th and 
178th ; the reason for their presence was not clearly ex- 
plained, and most of the men were themselves ignorant of 
what they were about to do. 

During the whole day the gates of the Louvre, those of 
the Pavilion de Eolian looking on the Palais Eoyal as well 
as those of the Tuileries, were completely closed. The 
89th of the line guarded, the Place du Carrousel and the 
Tuileries. During the evening, among the groups formed 
at different points, the principal topic of conversation 



llXn ARRO]SrDISSSEMEN"T ABANDONED. 41 

was the abominable act perpetrated in the afternoon at 
Montmartre, and of which Generals Lecomte and Clement- 
Thomas were the victims. 

Early in the "evening a body of some three thousand 
National Guards, composed of the 64th and 172d bat- 
talions, belonging to the Montmartre quarter, approached 
the Place Vendome without having encountered the 
slightest resistance in the way. Arriving at the Eue de 
la Paix, they found themselves confronted by the 1st bat- 
talion, Commandant Barre, who ordered the Montmartre 
men to halt ; but as they manifested the intention of con- 
tinuing their march, the 1st were ordered to load. This 
show of firmness brought the others to a stand-still, and 
they raised the butts of their muskets in the air, asking 
the 1st to do the same. The latter, however, remained 
resolute and awaited the orders of their chief. After 
having argued for some time and taken the instructions 
of the superior officers of the staff, the commandant of 
the 1st gave his men orders to retire, and the Place Ven- 
dome was abandoned to the others, who shortly after oc- 
cupied the Etat-Major and the headquarters of the first 
military division. 

The eleventh arrondissement, which is populated by 
most advanced republicans, who were positive that a coup 
cVetat was intended, seeing the streets occupied by cavalry, 
infantry and artillery, was spared a scene of bloody strife 
by the action of M. Mottu, Mayor of the arrondissement. 
He immediately waited on Ernest Picard who assured him of 
his republican sentiments, " Then do not defy the people. 
Why and against whom this display of force ? I answer 
for the maintenance of order and peace in my arrondisse- 
ment, if you do not yourselves ofier provocations to dis- 
order and civil war." " The . general command," was the 
reply, "is in the hands of General Vinoy." M. Mottu 
went to the General and represented to him in warm Ian- 



42 THE PARIS COMMUTE. 

guage the graye responsibility lie was iucurring. Already, 
no doubt, the first account of the dispositions' of the 
troops had reached the General, as, after a little hesitation, 
he decided on signing an order for the evacuation of the 
arrondissement, which was immediately executed. 

Later in the day a meeting of Paris Deputies, Mayors 
and Adjoints was convened at the Mairie of the Second 
Arrondissement. The gravity of events gave to this as- 
sembly an unusual importance. After discussion, a depu- 
tation was sent to M. Picard to come to an understanding 
Avith him on the modifications to be introduced into the 
government system. Several proposals were made, but 
without any result ; as the Minister of the Interior could 
not come to any decision without the assent of his col- 
leagues. The deputation next waited on General De 
Paladines, who declared that he could not apply any rem- 
edy to the situation, which, besides, was not of his creating. 
The General declared that the fate of France was in the 
hands of the municipalities, and that he abandoned all 
initiative. Jules Favre afterward received the deputation, 
who proposed the following as the bases of the concessions 
claimed — 1. The nomination of M. Langlois as the com- 
mander-in-chief of the National Guards ; 2. M. Edmond 
Adam as Prefect of Police ; 3. M. Dorian, Mayor of Paris ; 
4. M. Billot, member of the JSTational Assembly, com- 
mander of the army of Paris. M. Jules Favre replied 
that he would submit those propositions to the govern- 
ment. On that declaration the delegates returned to the 
Mairie of the Second Arrondissement, where they found a 
letter from Jules Ferry, declaring to the mayors of Paris^ 
that he abandoned the Hotel de Ville and delivered up his 
powers into the hands of those elected. He accordingly 
withdrew during the night to Versailles. The acceptance 
of these conditions were sent in the evening to the oflQcial 



nOTEL DE VILLE TAKEN". 43 

journal of the goveniment, but on hearing of the murder 
of the two generals, it was withdrawn. 

The Hotel de Ville was taken possession of about 4 
o'clock, the Mayor of the 24th Arrondissement, wearing 
his scarf, presented himself at the building and demanded 
admission, which was refused; a crowd collected and 
cheered him, and at last the doors were opened and he en- 
tered. The people then went to the Napoleon barrack 
and cheered the soldiers of the 109th regiment who were 
at the windows. The latter replied with cries of " Vive la 
Republique ! " The commanding officer ordered the win- 
dows to be closed, and the troops disappeared. The mob 
then tried to break open the gates, and seizing a sentry- 
box, used it as a battering-ram. At this moment a door 
of the Hotel de Ville opened, and a company of gendarmes 
fell upon the crowd with the butt-ends of their muskets. 
An indescribable scene of tumult occurred. Women, 
children, and ISTational Guards fled in every direction 
amidst screams and cries. The gendarmes afterward en- 
tered the building, and at a later hour, on the resignation 
of Jules Ferry becoming known, the doors were opened 
and the Central Committee took possession. 

General Chanzy, Commander of the Army of the Loire, 
returning from Tours in the afternoon, was totally in the 
dark as to the events that had taken place during the 
day. The insurgents, evidently forewarned of his arrival, 
took possession of the Orleans station, and when the train 
stopped, a number of individuals, armed with revolvers, 
presented themselves at the door of the compartment in 
which the General was seated in full uniform, and ordered 
him to alight ; resistance was useless, and he was carried 
off to the Chateau-Eouge and there confined, a prisoner 
in the hands of the Central Committee. 

The evening of this eventful day was perfectly calm, 
although the crowds were great on the streets and 



44 THE PAEIS COMMUNE. 

boulevards, every one in search of news. The omnibuses 
had ceased to run, fearing they would be requisitioned 
for barricades; but in the centre of the city circulation was 
nowhere impeded. 

In the morning of the 19th March the following proc- 
lamation was posted on the walls of Paris, addressed to 
the National Guards of the city, signed by all the mem- 
bers of the government present : 

March 19, 1871. 

" A body, assuraing the name of Central Committee, 
after having seized on a certain number of cannon, has 
covered Paris with barricades, and has taken possession, 
during the night, of the Ministry of Justice. It has fired 
on the defenders of order ; it has made prisoners and has 
murdered in cold blood Generals Clement-Thomas and 
Lecomte. Who are the members of that committee ? No 
one in Paris knows them ; their names are new to every 
one. No one can even say to what party they belong. 
Are they Communists, Bonapartists, or Prussians ? Are 
they the agents of a triple coalition ? Whoever they may 
be, they are the enemies of Paris, for they are giving it up 
to pillage ; of France, for they are handing her over to 
the Prussians ; and of the Eepublic, for they are abandon- 
ing it to despotism. The abominable crimes they have 
committed deprive of all excuse those who would dare to 
follow them or to submit to them. Will you accept the 
responsibility of their murders, and of the ruin they are 
bringing on the country ? If so, remain at home. But 
if you have any regard for your most sacred interests, rally 
around the Government of the Eepublic and the National 
Assembly." 

During the night the office of the Journal Officiel had 
been seized by the insurgents, and that paper appeared in 
the morning as the exclusive organ of the Central Com- 



CENTEAL COMMITTEE PEOCL AM ATI OK S . 45 

mittee, holding its sittings at tlie Hotel do Ville, with the 
following heading : 

" Repudlican Federation of tlie National Guard. 
Organ of the Central Committee" 

Hotel db Ville, March 19. 

" CiTiZEKS : — You had charged us with organizing the 
defence of Paris and of its rights, and we are convinced 
that we have fulfilled this mission. Aided by your gener- 
ous courage and your admirable sangfroid, we have ex- 
pelled the government which was betraying us. 

"At this moment our mandate has expired, and we 
again deliver it up to you, inasmuch as we do not pretend to 
take the place of those whom the popular breath has just 
overthrown. Prepare yourselves, and immediately make 
your communal elections, and give us for recompense the 
only one we ever hoped for — the true Eepublic. In the 
meantime we retain, in the name of the people, the Hotel 
de Ville. 

"Assi, Bilho7'ay, Ferrat, Baliclc, Edouard, 
Moreau, C. Dupont, Varlin, Boursier, 
Martier, Gushier, Lavalette, Fr. Jourde, 
Rousseau, Cli. Lullier, Blancliet, J. 
Grollard, Barroud, H. Geresme, Fahre, 
PougerotP 

The following proclamation was also posted on the walls 
of the city, addressed to the people, and signed by the 
same names as above : 

" CiTiZEisrs :— The people of Paris have shaken off the 
yoke sought to be imposed upon it. Calm, impassible in its 
strength, it awaited without fear as without provocation 
the shameless madmen who would destroy the Eepublic. 

" This time our brothers of the army were unwilling to 
lay a hand on the sacred ark of our liberties. Thanks be 
to all, and let Paris and France together establish the basis 



46 THE PARIS COMMUNE. 

of a Eepublic, acclaimed with all its consequences the 
only government that will forever close the era of inva- 
sions and civil wars. 

" The state of siege is raised. The population of the 
capital is convoked in its sections for its communal elec- 
tions. The safety of the citizen is assured by the assist- 
ance of the National Guard." 

At 10 o'clock in the morning the last of the regular sol- 
diers had quitted the caj)ital, and were on the way to Ver- 
sailles. The Ministry of Finance had been abandoned in 
the morning by the soldiers who there kept guard, and 
was occupied about noon by the National Guard. The 
specie on hand, which amounted to two and a lialf millions 
of francs, had been removed in the night to Versailles. 

About the same hour the Ministry of the Interior, Min- 
istry of Marine and Prefecture of Police were all occupied 
by the insurgents, and the entire public service was in the 
povv^er of the Central Committee, who drew up the follow- 
ing explanation which was posted on the walls and ap- 
peared in the ofi&cial journal : 

"If the Central Committee of the National Guard were 
a government, it might, out of respect for the dignity of 
its electors, di«dain to justify itself ; but as it does 'not 
pretend to take the place of those whom the popular 
breath has overthrown,' but, in its simple honesty, desires 
to remain exactly within the express limits of its powers, 
it remains a compound of individualities which have the 
right to defend themselves. 

"A child of the Eepublic, whose motto is the great 
word 'Fraternity,' it pardons its detractors; but it wishes 
to convince honest men who have accepted the calumny 
through ignorance, it has not acted in secret, for the 
names of its members were on all its proclamations. If 
the individuals were obscure, they did not shun the 



EXCUSE THEIR OBSCURE :N"AMES. 47 

responsibility, which was great. It was not unknown, for 
it was the free expression of the suffrages of 215 battahons 
of the National Gruard. It has not proYoked disorders ; 
for the National Guards, which haye done it the honor to 
accept its direction, have committed neither excesses nor 
reprisals, and have owed their strength to the wisdom and 
moderation of their conduct. 

".And yet provocations have not been wanting; the 
Government has not ceased, by the most shameful means, 
to attempt the most horrible of crimes — civil war; it has 
calumniated Paris, and has excited the provinces against 
the capital ; it has drawn up against us our brothers of 
the army, and has left them to perish with cold in the 
streets while their homes were waiting them; it has 
attempted to impose on you a General-in-Chief; it has, 
by nocturnal attacks, tried to disarm us of our cannons, 
after having been prevented by us from delivering them 
up to the Prussians ; in fine, with the aid of its affrighted 
accomplices of Bordeaux, it has said to Paris : ' Thou hast 
just been heroic ; therefore we are afraid of thee, and tear 
from thy brow thy crown of capital.' 

"What has the Central Committee done to reply to 
those attacks? It has founded the Federation; it has 
preached moderation and generosity. At the moment 
when the armed attack commenced it said to all : ' Refrain 
from aggression, and defend yourself only at the last 
extremity.' It summoned to its aid all men of intellect 
and capacity ; it invited the co-operation of the corps of 
officers; it opened its door to whoever knocked in the 
name of the Eepublic. On which side, then, was right 
and justice, and on which deception ? 

" One of the greatest causes of anger against us was the 
obscurity of our names. Alas ! how many were known — 
too well known, and that notoriety has often been fatal to 
us. One of the last means they employed against us was 
to refuse bread to the troops who preferred to allow them- 



48' THE PARIS COMMUTE. 

selves to be disarmed rather than fire upon the .people; 
and they who punish by hunger the refusal to murder, 
call us assassins ! In the first place — we say it with in- 
dignation — the sanguinary filth with which they attempt 
to sully our honor is an ignoble infamy. ISTo order of 
execution was ever signed by us; the National Guard 
never took part in the execution of the crime. What 
interest would it or ourselves have had in doing so ? fbe 
charge is as absurd as it is base. 

"We are indeed almost ashamed to defend ourselves. 
Our conduct shows what we are. Have we ever sought 
after emoluments or honors ? If we are unknown, although 
we have obtained the confidence of 215 battalions, it is 
because we have disdained to make any propaganda. A 
few hollow phrases or a little cowardice is sufficient, as is 
shown by recent events. 

"We who were charged with a task which imposed on 
us a terrible responsibility have accomplished it without 
hesitation and without fear; and now that we have 
arrived at the goal, we say to the people who have esteemed 
us suflficiently to listen to our counsels: 'Here is the 
authority which thou hast confided to us; where our 
personal interest commences our duty ends ; do this well ; 
Master, thou hast recovered thy liberty. Obscure a few 
days back, we are about to return obscure to thy ranks, 
and show to those who govern that we can descend proudly 
the steps of the H6tel de Ville, with the certainty of find- 
ing at the bottom the grasp of the loyal and robust hand.' 
" Aoit. Arnaud, Assi, Billioray, Ferrat, BaMcTc, 
Ed. Moreau, C. Dupont, Varlin, Bour- 
sier, Mortier, Gouliier, Lavahtte, Fr. 
Jourde, Rousseau, Oh. Lullier, Henri 
Fortune, G. Arnold, Viard, Blanchet, 
J. Grollard, Barroud, H. Geresme, Fcibre, 
Pougeret, Bouit — Les mernbres du Comite 
centred." 



DECREE OF CEJSTTRAL COMMITTEE. 49 

The following decree was also issued : 

'• Tlie Central Committee of the National Guard, seeing 
there is urgent necessity for immediately constituting the 
communal administration of the city of Paris, decrees — 

" 1. The elections of the Communal Council shall take 
place "Wednesday, March 22. 

" 2. The vote shall he taken by ballot and by arrondisse- 
ment, a councillor being named for twenty thousand 
inhabitants, or fraction in excess of ten thousand. 

"3d. The voting shall take place from eight in the 
morning to six in the evening, the examination being 
made immediately after. 

" 4th. The municipalities of the twenty arrondissements 
are charged as concerns each with the execution of the 
present decree. An ulterior notice will indicate the 
number of councillors to be elected." 

Signed as before. 

Several other important decrees were published on the 
same day, abolishing military tribunals in the army, 
granting full amnesty for all political crimes and offences. 
Nearly all crimes were construed to be political ones, and 
directors of prisons were instructed to set at liberty all 
persons detained on political grounds. 

The members of the Central Committee met on Monday 
morning, March 20th ; the tricolor flag had been hauled 
down, and the red hoisted in its place. The Place de la 
Mairie de Paris was filled with National Guards, who dis- 
cussed the state of affairs in front of their piled arms. All 
the shops were shut at that part of the Eue Eivoli. 'Bar- 
ricades were raised with paving stones in the Avenue 
Victoria, Rue de Eivoli, on the quay. Place Lobau, and 
all the environs. After the National Guard had taken 
possession of the Prefecture of Police, they established 
pickets on the Place Dauphine, and numerous detach- 
3 



50 THE PARIS COMMUKE. 

ments were posted on the Quais des Lunettes and De 
I'Horloge, the Rue Sainte Chapelle, the Boulevard Sevas- 
topol, and the Rue de Jerusalem. In the interior, senti- 
nels were placed at every door, and in all directions 
National Guards were to be seen armed, many with two 
muskets. 

The Etat-Major and Ministry of Justice in Place Ven- 
dome were occupied by the 91st battalion from Mont- 
martre and the 174th from Belleville. The sentinels were 
doubled, and a duplicate supply of cartridges distributed 
to the men. 

All the members of the government had left on Sun- 
day, the 20th, for Versailles. M. Thiers left about noon. 
One of the first acts of the government installed at Ver- 
sailles v/as to interrupt, by cutting the telegraph wires, 
all communication between Paris and the departments. 
The prefects in the provinces were also informed that any 
one of them who should publish the acts emanating from 
the Central Committee would be immediately arrested. 
The Ministers met in council under the presidency of M. 
Thiers, at the Hotel of the Prefecture, and decided that 
Paris must be left to itself until further orders, and that 
the government would remain on the defensive until the 
well-disposed National Guards made an energetic mani- 
festation against the new power installed by the revolt at 
the Hotel de Ville and the Ministries. 

M. Thiers telegraphed to all the different staffs at the 
Ministries to go and resume their posts at Versailles. 

The Prussians, on hearing of the revolt in Paris, ad- 
vanced nearer to the capital, and re-occupied St. Denis, 
which they had evacuated. They also telegraphed Jules 
Favre from Rouen the following despatch : 

" Rouen, March 21, 1871. 

" I have the honor to inform your Excellency that, in 
in presence of the events which have just taken place in 



THE PRUS'felAK THREATS. 51 

Paris, and which appear no longer to ensure the execu- 
tion of the conventions as regards the future, the com- 
mander-in-chief of the army before Paris interdicts aU 
approach to our lines in front of the forts occupied by us, 
demands the re-establishment, within twenty four hours, 
of the telegraphs destroyed at Pantin, and declares that 
he will treat the city of Paris as an enemy if it shall still 
adopt any measures in contradiction to the negotiations 
engaged, and the preliminaries of peace, which circum- 
stance would lead to an opening of the fire from the forts 
in question. 

" Fabeice." 

To which Jules Fayre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, re- 
turned the following answer: 

" Veesailles, March 21. 

" I received only very late this evening the telegram 
which your Excellency does me the honor to address to 
me this day at 12 h. 20 m. The insurrectional movement 
triumphant in Paris has been only a surprise, before 
which the Government has momentarily retired to avoid 
a civil war. It is the work of a handful of factious men 
disavowed by the great majority of the population, and 
energetically combated by the mayors, who resist with 
courage. The departments are unanimous in condemn- 
ing the movement and in promising their support to the 
Assembly. The government will make itself master of 
the situation ; and if it does not do so to-morrow, the 
reason is that it desires to spare the effusion of blood. 
Your Excellency can therefore be assured that our 
engagements shall be kept, and you will doubtless be un- 
willing, in presence of these facts and of our formal 
declaration, to inflict on the city of Paris, protected by 
the preliminaries of peace, the calamity of a military 



52 THE PAEIS Ct)MMU]SrE. 

execution. To do this would be to make the dying 
expiate the crime of a few perverse enemies of their 
country. As to the damage done to the telegraph at 
Pantin, the government, unfortunately, has not at pre- 
sent the means of repairing it. Notice has been sent to 
the mayors, who perhaps will be able to do what is 
demanded. But I have the honor to repeat to your 
Excellency, that, owing to the good sense of the great 
majority of the Paris population, to the firmness of the 
Assembly, and the support given by the departments, 
the cause of right will prevail, and that in a few days I 
shall have the power of giving entire satisfaction to your 
Excellency in respect to the claims justified by our 
engagements. 

"Jules Favee." 

The streets of Versailles soon became filled with soldiers 
from Paris, and no great alarm was manifested by the 
population at what was transpiring in that ill-fated, city. 
Great military preparations, however, were being made, 
and arms and artillery were demanded from the depart- 
ments. 

The provinces were firmly determined to resist what 
was taking place in the capital, and to support their 
deputies. The Mobiles of the departments, stimulated 
by their representatives, commenced arriving by all the 
lines of railway. 

A stormy debate took place at the sitting of the Na- 
tional Assembly on the 20th, on a motion brought up for 
the purpose of putting the department of the Seine and 
Oise in a state of siege. Louis Blanc violently opposed 
the measure, which he stated to be one of most aggressive 
character. He thought a policy of conciliation should 
be adopted with respect to Paris, the situation of which 
was extremely grave. 



THE PEUSSIAKS ADDRESS. 53 

General Trocliu declared the bill was not one of aggres- 
sion but protection, and said that he was astonished, with 
respect to the measure, that no one had spoken of the 
murder of Generals Lecomte and Thomas. The execu- 
tioners of these two brave men had repeatedly endeavored, 
during the siege, to get the Prussians into Paris, and it 
was that step which they were now again endeavoring 
to compass. He added further that General Lecomte, 
who has left six children, died a victim to duty, and the 
other officer had devoted his whole life to the Republic in 
the most courageous and generous manner; that the As- 
sembly should, by a solemn vote, declare the country 
adopted the family of the first, and that the murder 
of the second was a cause of public mourning, in which 
all France took part ! His expressions were received with 
the most enthusiastic applause by the entire Assembly, 
and the state of siege was declared almost unanimously. 
The Assembly declared it would make itself respected, 
and would succeed in founding the Eepublic which was 
now compromised by nefarious insurgents. 

In the meantime the Central Committee received the 
following communication from the Prussian headquarters 
at Compiegne : 

" Compiegne, 31st March. 

'•' The undersigned, commanding-in-chief, takes the 
liberty to inform you that the German troops wliich 
occupy the forts to the north and east of Paris, as well as 
the environs of the right bank of the Seine, have received 
orders to maintain an amicable and passive attitude so 
long as the events of which the interior of the city is the 
theatre shall not assume— with regard to the German 
armies— a hostile character, and of a nature to place them 
in danger; should- such be the case, they will observe the 
terms determined by the preliminaries of peace. 



54 THE PAEIS COMMUNE. 

" But, in the case these events should have a character 
of hostility, the city of Paris will be treated as an enemy. 

"For the Commander-in-Chief of the 3d corps of the 
Imperial armies. 

"VOISr SCHLOTHEIM, 

Major- Oeneraiy 

To which Pasqual G-rousset, Delegate for Foreign Rela- 
tions, returned the following answer : 

" Paris, 22d March. 

" The undersigned, delegated by the Central Committee 
to the department of Foreign Affairs, in answer to your 
despatch, informs you that the revolution accomplished 
here having a character essentially municipal, is not in 
any way aggressive against the German armies. 

" Furthermore, we have no authority to discuss the 
preliminaries of peace voted by the Assembly at Bor- 
deaux." 



CHAPTER III. 



Admiral Saisset appointed Commander-in-Chief of the National Guards— The 
Law and Order Party endeavor to overcome the insurrection— Concessions 
obtained by Admii-al Saisset from the National Assembly— His proclamation 
—The insurrectionists still unsatisfied— The elections postponed by decree 
until March 26th— Declaration of the press— It calls forth a threat from the 
Central Committee — Procession of the Order Party— Passage through the 
Place Vendome— Citizen Tony-MoUin appointed Mayor of the 6th Arrondisse- 
ment — M. Leroy takes possession of the Mairie— Is ejected by citizen LuUier 
—Warehouses broken into by the- mob— Chassepots sold for ten francs- 
Deputation sent to Valerien— Second procession of the Order Party— En- 
deavor made to disperse the croved- Shots fired— Frightflil massacre— Am- 
bulances collect the dead — Differences of opinion with regard to which party 
fired the first shot— Account given by the ofiicial journal — General Bergeret's 
view of the question— EecLuisitions — Executions at Montmartre — Deputation 
of Mayors to the Assembly demanding a compromise concerning the day of 
the elections — Hostile attitude of the Assembly— Address of M. Amaud— 
Tribune assigned to the Mayors— Their entrance— Their observations re- 
sented by the Eight — ^Violent agitation— The meeting dissolved — Evening 
sitting— Resolutions presented by the Mayors for approval— Several Mayors on 
their return to Paris make an arrangement with the Central Committee— The 
citizens exhorted to vote — Discrepancy in the statement of the Mayors and 
that of the Central Committee— The resolutions of the Mayors rejected in 
the Assembly by a large majority— Decrees in the oflacial journal — Insurrec- 
tional movement in Lyons — In Marseilles — Toulouse — St. Etienne— Fusion 
of the Mayors and Central Committee — Version of the Committee— That of 
the Mayors— Proclamation of the Deputies of Paris— Eesignation of Admiral 
Saisset — Proclamation of the Central Committee. 



THEEE were now published daily two official journals, 
one emanating from the Hotel de Ville in Paris, the 
other published in Versailles by order of the National 
Assembly. The last-named, after publishing an announce- 
ment that Admiral Saisset had been named Commander- 
in-Chief of the National Guards of the Seine, a leader 
who, the goyernment thought, would rally the men of 
order, published the following declaration : 



56 THE PARIS COMMUTE. 

"The Government wished to avoid bloodshed, even 
T/hen provoked to it by the unexpected resistance of the 
Central Committee of the National Guard. That opposi- 
tion, skilfully organized, and directed by conspirators as 
audacious as they were treacherous, was carried into effect 
by the invasion of a mass of National Guards without 
arms, and of the population, rushing on the soldiers, 
breaking their ranks and depriving them of their arms. 
Led away by those guilty manoeuvres, many of the men 
forgot their duty. The National Guard which had been 
convoked, also held back, and during the whole day only 
came out in insignificant numbers. In that serious con- 
juncture the Government, not wishing to engage in a san- 
guinary encounter in the streets of Paris, and considering 
that it was not strongly enough supported by the National 
Guard, decided on withdrawing to Versailles, near the 
National Assembly, the only legal representation of the 
country. On leaving Paris, the Minister of the Interior, 
at the request of the Mayors, delegated to a commission 
to be appointed by them the power of provisionally ad- 
ministering the affairs of the city, but the authorities met 
several times without arriving at any understanding. 
While those events were going on, the insurrectionary 
committee installed itself at the Hotel de Ville, and pub- 
lished two proclamations — one, to announce its assump- 
tion of the chief authority ; and the other, to convoke the 
electors of Paris to appoint a Communal Assembly. 

" This shameful state of anarchy is, however, beginning 
to move the good citizens, who are perceiving too late the 
fault they have committed in not immediately giving 
their material aid to the Government appointed by the 
Assembly. Who can, in fact, without a shudder, accept 
the consequences of that deplorable sedition, descending 
on a city like a sudden tempest, irresistible and inexpli- 
cable ? The Prussians are at our gates, and we have 



ADMIRAL SAISSET TO COMMAND. 57 

treated with them. But if the Government which signed 
the preHminaries of peace, is overthrown, the convention 
is broken. The state of war recommences, and Paris is 
fatally condemned to an occupation. Thus the long and 
painful efforts by which the Government succeeded in 
avoiding that irreparable misfortune will be rendered fruit- 
less ; but that is not all — with this lamentable disorder 
credit is destroyed and labor suspended. France not being 
able to meet her engagements Avill be abandoned to the 
enemy, who will reduce her to a cruel state of servitude. 
Such are the bitter fruits of the criminal folly of some, 
and of the deplorable supineness of others. The tnne has 
come to return to reason and to take courage. The Gov- 
ernment and the Assembly do not despair. They appeal 
to the country and lean on it, decided as they are on follow- 
ing it resolutely, and on striving boldly against sedition.'' 

The law and order men of the National Guards, with 
several of the leading citizens of Paris, encouraged by the 
government, made for a few days a spasmodic exertion to 
overthrow the insurrection, and bring back affairs to their 
old state. Admiral Saisset was popular, a true republican 
and a patriotic man, his only son had been killed during 
the late siege, and it Avas thought tliat he stood well with 
all the different elements of the National Guard ; he had 
obtained, in conjunction with the Mayors and Deputies of 
Paris, very important concessions from the National As- 
sembly, concessions which ought to have satisfied any true 
republican, concessions that were all which the Central 
Committee at one time wanted — the recognition of its 
municipal franchise and the election of the officers of the 
National Guard. Much importance was therefore attached 
to the following proclamation, which was thought would 
serve as a base for a compromise : 

3* 



58 THE PABIS COMMUNE. 

" Pabm, March 23, 1871. 

"Dear Fellow-Citizeks : — I hasten to inform you 
that, in accord with the Deputies of the Seine and the 
Mayors of Paris, we have obtained from the Goyernment 
of the National Assembly : 

" 1. The complete recognition of your municipal fran- 
chise ; 

" 2. The election of all the officers of the National 
Guard, including the Commander-in-Chief. 

" 3. Certain modifications of the measure in commercial 
bills; 

" 4. A law of rents favorable to tenants paying any sum 
as far as and including 1,200 francs. 

" Until you have confirmed my nomination or shall have 
replaced me, I remain at my post of honor to watch over 
the execution of the conciliatory measures which we have 
obtained, and thus contribute to the consolidation of the 

Eepublic. 

Saisset, 

Vice-Admiral, Prov. Commander-in-Chief of the National Guard of the Seine. 

What more could the chiefs of the revolt have demanded. 
If they had been sincere, as they declared themselves to 
be, they v»^ere bound to adhere to these dispositions which 
would have given satisfaction at once to the interests of 
law and order— but they were not sincere, neither did 
General McMahon, nor the other military leaders, believe 
them ; but M. Thiers was willing to go to any length to 
prevent the effusion of more blood. 

The Central Committee sitting at the Hotel de Ville 
issued the following proclamation relating to their forth- 
coming election : 

"Hotel de Ville, 22d March, 1871. 

" Citizens : — Your legitimate anger placed us on the 
18th of March at the post which we will only occupy 



THE DECLARATION OF THE PRESS. 59 

until the necessaiy arrangements can be made for the 
forthcoming communal elections. 

"Your mayors and your deputies, repudiating the 
engagements they had just made as candidates, have tried 
to fetter the elections, which we wish to hold in the 
briefest possible time. 

"The reaction raised by tbem declares war against us. 
" We will accept the struggle, and will crush all re- 
sistance, that you may proceed to the vote in the serenity 
of your will and your power. 

"In consequence, the elections are postponed until 
Sunday next, March 26 th. 

"Up to that time the most energetic measures will be 

taken to cause to be respected the rights you have assumed. 

" Avoine fils, Ant. Arnaud, G. Arnold, Assi, 

Andig7ioux, Bouit, J. Bergeret, Bdbick, 

Boursier, Baron, Billioray, Blanchet, 

Castioni, CJioiiteau, C. Dupont, Ferrat, 

Henri Fortune, Fabre, Fleury, Pougeret, 

C. Gaudier, Gouhier, Guiral, Geresme, 

Grollard, Josselin, F. Jourde, Maxime 

Lishonne, Lavalette, Ch. Lullier, Mal- 

journal, Moreau, Mortier, Prudliomme, 

Rousseau, Ranvier, Varlin, Viard — Le 

Comite Central de la Garde Nationdle. 

In the meantime, the principal Paris journals entered 
into a combination to resist the holding of the elections 
by the insurgents, and issued the following 

"DECLARATION OF THE PRESS. 

" To THE Paris Electors : — Seeing that the convoca- 
tion of electors is an act of national sovereignty ; 

" That the exercise of this sovereignty appertains to the 
powers emanating from universal suffrage ; 



60 THE PARIS COMMUNE. 

" That, in consequence, the comniittee which is installed 
at the Hotel de Ville has neither the right nor the quality 
to make this convocation. 

" The representatives of the undersigned journals con- 
sider the convocation announced for the 22d of March as 
mill and void, and request the electors to regard it in that 

light. 

(Signed) 

^^ Journal des Debats, Co7istitutio7inel, Elec- 
teur Libre, Petite Presse, Verite, Figaro, 
Oaulois, Paris Journal, Petit National, 
Bappel, Presse, France, Liberie, Pays, 
National, Univers, Cloche, Patrie, Fran- 
^ais, Bien Public, Union, Opinion Na- 
iionale. Journal des Villes et Campagnes, 
Journal de Paris, Moniteur Universel, 
France Nouvelle, Gazette de France, 
Messagcr de Paris, Soir:' 

This collective declaration of the Paris journals does 
them great honor, as they embody every shade of politics. 
The committee, however, threatened with severe repression 
any resistance to its authority, and announced that the 
reactionary journals had recourse to falsehood and calumny 
to cast a slur on the patriots who had ensured the triumph 
of the people's rights. " We cannot attack the liberty of 
the press," it said ; " only, the Government of Versailles 
having suspended the ordinary course of the tribunals, wc 
warn all badly-intentioned writers to whom would be 
applicable in other times the common law on slander and 
insult, that they will be immediately tried by the Central 
Committee of the National Guard." 

Assi, one of the chiefs of the insurrection, a leading 
member of the International Society, the instigator and 
promoter of nearly all the " strikes " that have occurred 



UNIOif OF THE MEN OF "OKDEE." Gl 

throughout Europe, made his appearance in the streets in 
one of the late Emperor's carriages ; it had passed, inside 
the year, through the hands of Napoleon III., Gambetta, 
Glais-Bizoin, Rochefort, Etienne Arago, Jules Ferry, and 
Assi. Nearly all the other carriages had been sent to Ver- 
sailles for the use of the government. 

Soon after a numerous column of peaceable citizens, 
which increased at each instant, composed of National 
Guards without arms, artisans, tradesmen and soldiers, 
trayersed the boulevards and descended the Eue Vivienne 
as far as the Place de la Bourse. They carried a tricolored 
flag, with an inscription " Union of the Men of Order ^^ 
'• Vive la RepuUique ! " On their arrival at the Place, the 
battalion on guard there had an instant's hesitation, but on 
hearing shouts in favor of order and the National Assem- 
bly, they turned out and presented arms. The manifesta- 
tion, which became more important every instant, then 
resumed its march, and passing by the Eue Montmartre 
and the boulevard of that name, came to the Eue Drouot. 
At the Mairie, in that street, the guard, which was com- 
posed of the 117th battalion (one of the insurgent bat- 
talions) attempted to prevent the procession from passing; 
but its members held firm, and insisted on pursuing their 
way to the Eue Lafayette. In the end the malcontents 
gave way, and the others went on with the same cry of 
" Vive V Ordre ! " They afterward traversed another part 
of the boulevard and went down the Eue de la Paix. On 
arriving at the entrance of Place Vendome, they found all 
passage barred, but they went in resolutely and passed 
unmolested through the guard. A man who strove to 
speak from the balcony of the Etat-Major in the name of 
the insurgents, was hooted down with cries of "A has le 
Comite!" The guardians of the place put themselves in 
position near their guns, and a panic took place among the 
crowd. Fortunately the procession took a prudent course 



63 THEPAEISC03I3IUKE. 

and proceeded on its route, avoiding the horrible massacre 
which took place at the same point on the following day. 
At 5 o'clock, when the cortege descended the Boulevard 
St Michel and passed before the Palais de Justice, the 
numbers exceeded five thousand, and the people who 
thronged the steps manifested open sympathy, partic- 
ularly at each cry of " Vive VAssemhUe Kationale ! " 

After the passage of the friends of order, the battalions 
in charge of the Etat-Major in the Place Vendome took 
formidable precautions. Two pieces of cannon threatened 
the Eue de la Paix, and two more the Eue Castighone ; the 
circulation was also stopped, and piquets were placed at 
the comers of the streets leading to those localities. 

The Central Committee now commenced to make many 
arbitrary arrests and requisitions, among the latter one 
million francs from the Bank of Prance ; also to occupy 
the different posts by K"ational Guards, strangers in the 
districts ; in consequence of which the men of order be- 
longing to the Guards, held public meetings in the various 
arrondissements, and decided upon energetic measures for 
the protection of their respective quarters. 

The Central Committee had delegated the citizen Tony- 
Mollin as Mayor of the 6th Arrondissement, in place of 
M. Herisson. A short time after M. Herbert Leroy, one 
of the Adjoints of the Mairie, accompanied by a numerous 
crowd, arrived and took possession of Ms municipal cabi- 
net, Tony-Mollin being at that moment absent. But this 
success was of short duration ; for shortly after. Citizen 
Lulher, one of the chiefs of the insurgents, presented him- 
self with three battalions of the National Guard and re- 
instated M. Tony-Molhn. 

A large storehouse of arms, belonging to the Govern- 
ment, in the Eue St. Dominique, and another on the 
Boulevard de Latour-Maubourg, was broken into by a mob 
in sympathy with the insurgents, and completely plan- 



THE PAETYOF "OKDER." 63 

dered of all their contents. Several oflBcers of the Na- 
tional Guard attempted to introduce some order in the 
appropriation of the objects belonging to the state ; but 
each individual took the article he pleased, and carried it 
off to sell or give away, and then returned to the depot to 
make a fresh selection. Boys of thirteen or fourteen were 
seen marching off with pistols, revolvers or muskets. On 
the Avenue de Latour-Maubourg, in the building of the 
Invalides, which lately served as the arsenal for the Garde 
Mobiles, the chassepots left by a regiment of the Line were 
taken, and might be purchased in the evening for from 
one to ten francs each. The stock of arms was soon ex- 
hausted, and the late-comers had to content themselves 
with belts, cartridge-boxes, and other articles of equipment. 
A serious danger of explosion existed for a long time, as 
many of tl^e people who had made the irruption did not 
take the precaution of putting out their pipes or cigars, 
while open cases of cartridges were lying about in all direc- 
tions. The rush was so great that one National Guard had 
his leg broken, and several were almost squeezed to death. 

The forts on the south of Paris being all in the pos- 
session of the National Guards, they sent a deputation 
of three thousand men to demand the delivery of Mount 
Yalerien, the greatest stronghold in the vicinity of Paris, 
situated at the west, and dominating nearly the w^hole 
city. The regular troops in the fort were much irri- 
tated at the demand. The colonel in command having 
consented to parley with three of the National Guard, 
dechned their advances, ushered them through the gates, 
and the 3000 men returned to the city. Had the in- 
surgents gained possession of Valerien, the situation of 
Paris would have been much more grave. 

On the following day, March 22d, a large mass of 
people belonging to the party of " Order," many of whom 
•were probably the same persons who had paraded the 



64 THE PARIS COMMUNE. 

streets on the previous day, assembled on the Place de 
I'Opera about one o'clock. They were without arms, and 
most respectable in appearance — few blouses, if any, were 
to be seen. Their intention was the same as the day 
before, viz., to promenade the boulevards in crying " Vive 
la Bepubliqice!" "Vive VOrdre!" "Vive TAssembUe 
Rationale!" Between one and two o'clock a picket of 
insurrectionary National Guards advanced by the Eue de 
de la Paix, with an order to disperse this peaceable multi- 
tude. At sight of the menacing attitude of these armed 
men, the crowd commenced to shout: "Vive VOrdre!" 
"Vive VAssemUee Nationdle!" and succeeded by their 
words in causing the National Guards to retire towards 
Place Vendome. "When it was seen that these guards 
thus gave way before words of conciliation, the crowd 
entered in a body, with the object of passing through the 
Place. Among the multitude no other cry was heard but 
" Vive V Ordre ! " " Vive la RepuUique ! " " Vive VAssemUee 
Nationale!" It thus proceeded to the entrance of Place 
Vendome, a distance of about three hundred yards, when 
it was opposed by the National Guards, who stood at 
"charge bayonets," drums beating "to arms;" but the 
noise was drowned in the continued cries of " Vive 
VOrdre!" "Vive VAssemNee Nationale!'' A group of 
citizens, who had arrived by the way of Eue Neuve des 
Capucines, carrying a tricolored flag, advanced to the 
front, where the Guards barred the passage. As they 
advanced, the cries of " Vive VOrdre!" were redoubled, 
and a general waving of handkerchiefs and hats, hoisted 
on the end of sticks, took place — and every one looked 
forward to a happy denoument of the affair. Vanquished 
by this pacific and patriotic manifestation, some of the 
guards raised the butt-end of their muskets, others peace- 
ably crossed their bayonets ; and it was seen and felt that 
in a few more minutes the insurrection would melt away 



A BRAVE SAILOR. 65 

before the right and legality of conciliation ; but, alas ! at 
the corner of Place Vendome a shot was fired. The 
crowd remained impassible. This first shot was im- 
mediately followed by five others, which caused the multi- 
tude to retreat ; but on the exhortation of several men of 
decision and courage, it again advanced, holding firm its 
original position, when a fearful discharge of musketry 
took place, causing a general flight of the masses. In the 
twinkling of an eye Eue de la Paix was covered with the 
bodies of the wounded, dead, and those overthrown in the 
panic. The flight of the crowd did not arrest the fire of 
the National Guards, who continued to shoot on every 
side of the street, in many instances killing their own 
men. One splendid looking fellow, dressed in the costume 
of the French navy, bravely stood his ground, holding the 
tricolor in his left hand, and striking his breast with his 
right, crying " Vive la ReinihUque ! " " Tirez done, tas 
d' assassins." A rush was then made by the National 
Guard, who arrested all who had not run away, and con- 
veyed them inside the Place Vendome. In an instant the 
greatest alarm prevailed everywhere in the neighborhood, 
and all the shops were at once closed. Groups collected, 
and the words "Assassins!" "Brigands!" were heard on 
every side. The men of the Place Vendome then cleared 
the Rue Castiglione, and posted sentinels at the end 
towards the Eue Rivoli, to prevent any one from passing. 
Half-an-hour afterwards a strong body escorted the per- 
sons made prisoners to the end of the street, and then set 
them at liberty. The excitement was everywhere intense, 
and fear was entertained of further bloodshed before the 
morning. 

The ambulances soon began collecting the bodies which 
were lying in the Eue de la Paix and in the adjoining 
streets. They were mostly carried inside the Place Ven- 
dome, and ranged in a row upon a long table in the build- 



66 THE PAEIS COMMUNE. 

ing of the Credit Mobilier; others, that were at once re- 
cognized, were carried off on brancards in different direc- 
tions. Two workmen in blouses carried off one poor 
fellow who was screaming in the most horrible manner, 
the blood having completely saturated his clothes and the 
mattress upon which he was lying ; he was dead before 
they had arrived at his home, which was in the immediate 
vicinity. On their return for more wounded, as they 
passed in front of the American Club on the Place de 
I'Opera, they met a body of the ISTational Guards coming 
from Place Vendome; the brave fellows set down the 
brancard in such a position that the Guards were obliged 
to make a detour in order to pass, and turning over the 
mattress they pointed to the gory bed of the murdered 
man, and shouting " Look there ! murderers and assas- 
sins! Look at the blood of Place Vendome!" the sol- 
diers seemed sobered and scared at the terrible tragedy 
their folly had brought about; but two or three loaded 
their chassepots, pointing them at the men, when the 
ofiQcer in command stepped in front, and, waiving his 
sword, ordered his men to advance. 

There has been considerable debate and altercation as 
to which party fired the first shot, the Men of Order or 
the ]^ational Guards. The defenders of the National 
Guards (when they have defenders) say that the Order 
party, under pretence of a friendly unarmed remonstrance, 
attempted to force the ranks of the National Guards and 
get possession of their rifles, some of which had actually 
been thus carried away, and that one or two of their men 
had been shot before they fired a gun. Lieutenant-General 
Sheridan, who was stopping at the time in the "Westminster 
Hotel, situated in Eue de la Paix, and Avho saw tlie whole 
affair, says the crowd fired first on the National Guard ; 
but another American gentleman, who was standing on 
his balcony in the same hotel, thinks the National Guard 



THE FIGHT OF MARCH 32D. 67 

fired first on the crowd. The official journal of the Com- 
mittee published an account of the unhappy affair after 
an inquiry into the matter, the translation of which is the 
following • 

"The Central Committee at once ordered an inquiry 
into the events which occurred on the Place Vendome on 
the 22d. It was unwilling to publish an immediate recital, 
which might have been accused of being influenced by 
foregone conclusions. The following are the facts as they 
result from the evidence taken on the investigation : 

" At half-past one the manifestation, which had been 
collecting since noon on the Place du Nouvel Opera, 
descended the Eue de la Paix. In the first ranks an ex- 
cited group, amongst whom the IS^ational Gruards assert 
that they recognized MM. de Heeckeren, De Coetlegon, 
and H, de Pene, former supporters of the Empire, was 
violently agitating a flag, bearing no inscription. On 
arriving at the Eue Neuve-Saint-Augustin, the demon- 
strators surrounded, disarmed, and maltreated two men 
detached as advanced sentinels. Those citizens only 
owed their safety to retreat to the Place Vendome, and 
without their muskets, their clothes torn. Immediately 
the National Guards seized their arms and advanced as 
far as the Rue Nel^ve-des-Petits-Champs. 

" The first rank had received orders to raise the butt- 
ends of their muskets in the air if it was broken, and to 
fall back behind the third ; the same for the second ; whilst 
the last of all was to cross bayonets, but expressly recom- 
mended not to fire. 

" The foremost amongst the crowd, which amounted to 
about 800 or 1,000 persons, were soon face to face with the 
defenders. The character of the demonstration was then 
clearly defined. Cries were raised of 'A has Us Assassins ! 
A las le Comite!' and the nationals were grossly in- 



68 THE PAEIS COMMUNE. 

suited. They were called ' IMurderers ! ' ' Co-wards ! ' 
' Briffauds ! ' Some furious individuals seized their mus- 
kets, and an officer's sword was wrenched from him. The 
shouts were redoubled, and the affair became, instead of a 
manifestation, a veritable riot. In fact, a revolver shot 
wounded in the thigh Citizen Maljournal, Staff-Lieutenant 
of the Place, member of the Central Committee. General 
Bergeret, commander of the, forces, hastened at the com- 
mencement to the front rank and summoned the rioters 
to withdraw. During nearly five minutes the roll of the 
drum was to be heard. ' Ten times the order was repeated, 
and was replied to by cries and abuse. Two National 
Guards fell seriously wounded ; but, however, their com- 
rades hesitated, and fired in the air. The agitators strove 
to break the lines and disarm the N^ational Guard. Some 
shots were heard, and the crowd suddenly dispersed. 
General Bergeret instantly ordered the firing to cease, 
and his ofiicers aided his efforts. However, other detona- 
tions were heard in the interior of the Place, and the fact 
is only too true that the National Guards were fired upon 
from the houses. Two of them were killed : the citizens 
Wahlin and Francois, belonging to the 7th and 215th 
battalions; eight were wounded: namely, Maljournal, 
Cochet, Miche, Ancelot, Legat, Eeyer, Train, and La- 
borde. 

" The first of the dead taken to the ambulance of the 
Credit Mobilier was Viscount de Molinet, struck at the 
back of the head, in the front rank of the crowd. He fell 
at the corner of the Rues de la Paix and Neuve-des-Petits- 
Champs, on the Place Vendome side, with his face to the 
ground. The fact is clear that he was struck by his com- 
panions, for had he fallen in flying the body would have 
lain in the direction of the New Opera. On the corpse 
was found a poignard attached to the waist-belt by a 
chain. 



GENEKAL BEKGERET'S REPORT. G9 

" A large number of revolvers and SAVord-sticks were 
picked up in the Eue dc la Paix and taken to the Etat- 
Major. 

"Doctor Eambow, formerly surgeon at the camp of 
Toulouse, living 32 Eue de la Victoire, and a number 
of other medical men, hastened to attend the wounded 
and sign the oflBcial reports. 

The valuables found on the rioters were placed in 
sealed packets and deposited at the Etat-Major. 

" Owing to the coolness and firmness of General Ber- 
geret, who was able to restrain the just indignation of the 
National Guards, more serious accidents were avoided." 

Most of the men killed and v/ounded, judging from 
their appearance, were men of respectability, and not 
likely to take part in an ordinary street row. Nearly 
all had been struck in the upper parts of the body, about 
the heart or head, and in the back, as if they were turning 
to escape. A great deal of the firing had evidently been 
aimed at the windows, as many of the panes of glass in 
the Eue de la Paix and Place Vendome had been shivered 
by bullets. 

General Bergeret, who figured later as a conspicuous 
member of the Commune, gave the following account of 
the affair: 

'' For some days we were endeavoring to overthrow the 
illegal government of Paris, and establish one founded on 
universal sufirage. This effected, the elections will ap- 
prove everything we have done. We intend to ratify 
the peace made with the Prussians, and heal the wounds 
of France. The mad population are ready to take advan- 
tage of the situation to rob and murder. On Tuesday a 
large crowd approached the Place Vendome, shouting 
and hissing the government of the Central Committee, 



70 THE PAKIS COMMUNE. 

and showed a disposition to driye the National Guards 
from their position. 

" I wished to parley with them, hut they refused, with 
characteristic monarchical intolerance, and hissed and 
shouted. They retired, threatening to return the follow- 
ing day. On Wednesday they again prepared a demon- 
stration, and some were armed. I placed men in the 
Eue de la Paix to keep back the mob, if any attempted to 
invade the Place Vendome, with orders not to fire. At 
one o'clock a large crowd of ten thousand advanced and 
overpowered the first line, wrenched the rifles from the 
troops, beat and maltreated them. I ordered the second 
line to retire slowly on Place Vendome, and to keep back 
the crowd, without violence. The guns were taken from 
more soldiers, upon which I ordered the line to take up a 
position across the road in sufiicient numbers to resist the 
crowd by force ; but I told them to throw up their rifles, 
so as to show the people that we wished to avoid an 
effusion of blood. They remained face to face some 
minutes. The crowd tried to break the cordon; and, 
yelling against the Government and the National Guard, 
at last they commenced using their revolvers, so that four 
of our men fell. One died immediately, shot through the 
brain, and the others are very seriously wounded. The 
National Guard, finding that the mob meant bloodshed, 
fired first in the air. Some, enraged at seeing their com- 
rades fall, fired at the crowd, and killed five and wounded 
fifteen or twenty. The mob then dispersed in great con- 
fusion, and I hope will attempt nothing of the kind in 
future. We do not want war, nor do we want to kill each 
other ; for our enemies are scarcely out of the city. What 
can we do ? The Government attempted to take our 
cannon, and to prepare for a monarchy. The Assembly 
has a fixed determination to force a king upon us. We 
will avoid further bloodshed." 



KEQUISITIONS. 71 

The situation in Paris remained for several days about 
the same. The supporters of the law had taken up arms, 
and were occupying the principal quarters of the capital. 
All parts of France were rallying round the National 
Assembly and the Government. A proposition had been 
passed in the Chamber that the National Guards of 
France should be summoned to assist in the defence of 
the representatives of the country. The army at Versailles 
was hourly being reinforced, and the head of the Executive 
Power was accused of lack of energy in not at once attack- 
ing the insurgents; but he, or the generals in command, 
knew their duties better. It would have been sheer mad- 
ness to make an attack on 100,000 men fighting in forts, 
defended by ramparts, or behind barricades, even if the 
25,000 National Guards who remained loyal could have 
opened the gates. The army did not yet muster over 
50,000 men, many of whom had probably not yet been 
cured of their fraternizing propensities. 

In the meantime the requisitions of the Committee 
kept increasing. The insurgents had used up one million 
three hundred thousand francs, which were on deposit at 
the Comptes d'Escomptes to the credit of the International 
Society, in addition to the loose change they had found 
lying at the different public offices. Many of the shop- 
keepers were hesitating about laying in further supplies, 
and all of them manifested the intention of defending 
their property. The following is a specimen of one of the 
orders issued by the Committee of the Hotel de Ville : 
" Liberty, Equality, Feateenity. 
"IiT THE Name of the Republic. 
" Eequisitiois'S. 
" MoKEY — Peovisions. 

"In case of refusal, Citizen Albert, charged with the 
commission, may get himself assisted by the National 
Guards of the quarter. (Signed) " Lullien", 

" Memtier of the Federation." 



72 THE PARIS COMMUKE. 

There were tvv^o stamps on this paper — one with the 
words " RepuUiquG Frani;aise" and the other "Federation 
RepuUicame." Thus had a revohition of blood and 
violence fully commenced. The insurgents were now the 
declared enemies of peaceful Paris, and must succeed, in 
order not to be called to account for the blood shed and 
robberies committed. They now held Paris in their 
grasp, utterly despising the National Assembly and its 
power. 

The following is a copy of a report made by the General 
in command (formerly a dealer in old iron), at Montmartre. 

"Eeport from 20th to 21st. ISFothing new. I have 
received communications from the chief of ports. At 
five minutes past ten, two sergeants-de-ville, disguised as 
simple citizens, were brought up by some franc-tireurs, 
and immediately shot. At twenty minutes past twelve, a 
gardien-de-la-paix, accused of firing off a revolver, was 
also shot. At seven in the evening a gendarme, brought 
in by some Guards of the 28 th battalion, was similarly 
put to death." 

Seeing the danger of allowing matters to proceed in the 
above manner, the principal mayors of Paris, in conjunc- 
tion with the deputies of the city, most of whom were 
advanced Eepublicans, desired to make a compromise with 
the Committee, and hold the elections at once; but the 
Government of Versailles refused to sanction this com- 
promise, and issued a decree to hold the elections on the 
3d of April, the day on which they were to be held 
throughout France. The Committee insisted they should 
be held in Paris on the 26th of March ; consequently, a 
deputation, consisting of fourteen of the mayors of Paris, 
visited Versailles, to represent to the Assembly the advan- 
tages of compromising with the insurgents; but their 



DEBATE IN THE ASSEMBLY. 73 

arrival was ill-timed — the Assembly -vvas in no mood for 
compromising with rebels. M. Sarget, a member of the 
Chamber, had just finished a speech, in which he said 
that " General Trochu lately proposed to the Assembly to 
declare General Clement- Thomas' death a cause of public 
mourning, and to adopt the family of General Lecomte. 
Yesterday an infinitely more tragical event took place 
near the Place Vendome, where a number of inoffensive 
citizens, without arms, and crying ' Vive la France ! ' ' Vive 
VAssemUee JSfationale!' were fired at by pretended National 
Guards, and mercilessly slaughtered" (great agitation). 
" I propose that France should adopt the families of the 
unfortunate victims who thus lost their lives when pro- 
testing in favor of order" (renewed approbation). A 
voice replied "that the whole budget would not suffice 
at the rate the insurgents were going on." 

M. Arnaud, who, in addition to being a mayor of Paris, 
was also deputy, rose and said that, " in common with his 
colleagues, mayors in Paris (Paris is divided into twenty 
arrondissements, each having its mayor appointed by the 
government), he had, in consequence of the gravity of 
existing circumstances, come to Versailles to place him- 
self in communication with the Assembly. He was 
quite sure that none but members had a right to take a 
seat there, but he thought his duty required him to ask 
that an exception should be made in favor of the muni- 
cipal functionaries. (Protests on the Eight.) The fact 
would be sufficient that one of them, who was a Deputy, 
should make the communication, so as to prevent any 
idea of disorder. The Assembly would decide as it 
thought proper. He had been charged with a commis- 
sion, which he had fulfilled conscientiously. He wished 
to observe, as they had all come together, and been jointly 
delegated — 

On the Eight. — " By whom ? " (Great noise.) 
4 



74 THEPAEISCOMMUlJrE. 

Several Voices. — " Was it by the existing executive ? " 

M. Flouquet. — " You desire, then, the continuation of 
the civil war ? " (Eenewed disturbance.) 

M. Arnaud believed he had no occasion to give any ex- 
planations, as, in speaking of delegation, he recognized no 
other power than that issuing from universal suffrage. 
He was anxious to state that he and his friends had come 
to state the results of their common efforts, and that they 
hoped to triumph ; but they were anxious to be strength- 
ened by the sentiment and assistance of the Assembly. 
He left the matter in the hands of the President, and 
asked at least that a tribune should be assigned to the 
various representatives of the municipal bodies of Paris. 

The President. — Nothing could be more simj)le than to 
reconcile the rights, prerogatives, and interests of the As- 
sembly, which must never be sacrificed, with the defer- 
ence due to the mayors of Paris. M. Arnaud had said 
that they had a communication to make. Amongst them 
were several members of the Chamber ; let one of them 
read the document. As to the respect due to the muni- 
cipal functionaries, that would receive full satisfaction. 
A tribune should be placed at their disposal, and he be- 
lieved that the questers had already taken the necessary 
measures. 

M. Baze, a member, said he would give the mayors the 
most distinguished places in the house. 

At that moment fourteen members of the municipality 
of Paris entered, each wearing the tricolored scarf, which 
forms the insignia of their oflSce. The whole Assembly 
at once rose and welcomed them with loud applause, the 
Left with cries of " Vive la France ! " and " Vive la Re- 
puUiqiie ! " and the Right with the former alone. The 
mayors responded with some exclamations for France and 
the Eepublic, when fifty or sixty members of the Eight, 
pointing to them, called out : " Order ! order ! They do 



A STOEMY SESSIOIT. 75 

not respect the Assembly ! Have the hall evacuated ! 
They have no right to speak ! they are only admitted as 
spectators ! " The members of the Left protested in favor 
of the mayors, and for a time the tumult was so great 
that the words used in the altercation going on between 
the two sides of the Chamber could not be heard. About 
thirty deputies put on their hats, although the President 
was still sitting. The Left cried out, "Hats off! Ee- 
spect your President ! " 

M. Floquet, to the Eight. — " You are insulting Paris ! " 

A Voice. — " And you are insulting France ! " 

The agitation, instead of calming down, continued to 

increase, and the President, despairing of being able to 

restore order, declared the sitting to be at an end, but that 

the members would again meet in the evening. 

The Deputies met again at ten o'clock in the evening 
— the mayors were not present, having returned to Paris. 

M. Arnaud presented a series of resolutions agreed upon 
by the mayors of Paris, who were convinced that the 
re-establishment of order required the following measures : 

1. That the Assembly should place itself in more fre- 
quent and closer communication with the municipalities 
of Paris. 

2. That it should authorize the mayors to adopt such 
measures as circumstances might require. 

3. That the elections of officers in the ISTational Guard 
should take place before the 28th inst. 

4. That the municipal councils should be chosen before 
the 3d of April, if possible, and the qualifications for 
being elected should consist merely in six months' resi- 
dence. 

A number of the mayors, immediately after their return 
to Paris, without waiting for any action to be taken on 



76 THE TARIS COMMUNE. 

the above propositions, entered into an arrangement with 
the Central Committee that the election should take 
place on the 26th. 

The walls of Paris were covered with placards exhorting 
all citizens to go and vote at the municipal elections. At 
the first glance it would appear that all parties were 
unanimous in giving this advice. The Central Com- 
mittee stated that the mayors and deputies had rallied to 
it. On the other hand, these last, in a rival notice 
entitled, " The only authentic text of the Convention," 
whilst endeavoring to show it was not they who had gone 
over to the Committee, but the latter to them, also came 
to the conclusion that all ought to take part in the ballot. 
But in looking a little more closely, it was seen that 
this unanimity was much less perfect than at first ap- 
peared. 

Louis Blanc made it known to the Assembly that it 
had been decided to hold the elections on Sunday, March 
26th, notwithstanding that body had as yet taken no ac- 
tion in the matter; but he had thought there was danger 
in postponing that proceeding, and in consequence asked, 
in the name of the Deputies of the capital, the Assembly 
to declare that the mayors and adjoints, in consenting to 
that course, acted like good citizens. The Chamber re- 
jected the proposal by a large majority. 

The official organ of the Central Committee continued 
to publish daily decrees of more or less importance. Fol- 
lowing the announcement of the municipal elections on 
the 26th, there was one encouraging the National Guard 
to persist firmly in their service, although they were op- 
posed by several battalions of that body and a portion of 
the press, which stigmatized the movement of the Com- 
mittee as the act of communists, pillagers, and insur- 
gents ; another implored the citizens of Paris to repair in 
crowds to the voting places; another appointing com- 



GAKIBALDI TO COMMAND. 77 

manders of their forces, which said : "Considering that the 
situation exacts rapid measures; that on all sides the su- 
perior commanders, continuing the routine of the past, 
have by their inaction produced the present state of affairs ; 
that the monarchical reaction has hitherto prevented, by 
riot and falsehood, the elections which would have consti- 
tuted the sole legal power in Paris ; the Committee decrees 
that the military powers of the capital are placed in the 
hands of the Delegates Brunei, Eudes, and Duval. They 
have the title of General, and will act in concert while 
waiting the arrival of General Garibaldi, acclaimed as 
General-in-Chief, Courage now and always, and the trai- 
tors will be foiled. ' Vive la RepuUique ! ' The Com- 
mittee learns that some men wearing the uniform of the 
National Guards, and who have been recognized as former 
gendarmes or sergeants-de-ville, have fired on the Prussian 
lines. Should a similar circumstance again occur, the 
Committee will itself take the necessary measures for seiz- 
ing on the culprits, and having them shot immediately. 
The security of the whole city demands vigorous measures. 

" The fugitive government at Versailles has sought to 
create a void around you, and the provinces are entirely 
deprived of all news from Paris. But that attempt has 
not succeeded in preventing a revolutionary sentiment 
from forcing a passage through all those precautions. The 
Central Committee has received delegations from the cities 
of Lyons, Bordeaux, Marseilles, Eouen, &c., which came 
to know what was the nature of our movement, and which 
have left in haste to give the signal for an analogous one, 
already prepared everyrv^here. ' Vive la France ! ' ' Vive 
la RepuUique ! ' " 

The Central Committee was perfectly correct in its 
proclamation that many other cities of France had been 
prepared, and were acting in concert with Paris. An in- 
surrectionary movement now commenced in Lyons, which 



78 THE PAEIS COMMUNE. 

has always been the hot-bed of riots and revolutions. 
A number of delegates from different political groups 
proceeded to the Hotel de Ville on the afternoon. of the 
22d of March, and demanded that the Prefect should 
recognize as the legal government the Central Committee 
installed in Paris. That injunction not being obeyed, the 
malcontents left, declaring that they could, if necessary,, 
carry their point by force. Crowds having begun to 
assemble on the Place des Terreux, the authorities ordered 
the National Guard to be called out. During the evening 
cries of " Vive la Commune ! " and " Vive le Comite de 
Paris ! " were raised in the streets, and the Marseillaise 
was sung. One or two companies of a battalion from La 
Guillotiere also went over to the rioters. About midnight 
a delegate of the Committee was introduced into the Hotel 
de Ville, then occupied by three battalions, and proclaimed 
from the balcony the insurrectionary government of Paris. 
Many of the National Guards protested, biit abstained 
from offering any opposition to the movement, in order to 
avoid a collision. One shot was fired, but apparently by 
accident, and no person is known to have been wounded. 
Great incertitude existed in the minds of the population, 
and the insurgents took advantage of the hesitation to 
impose their own will. The red flag was hoisted the fol- 
lowing morning on the Hotel de Ville. The Prefect was 
made prisoner, and the Municipal Council dissolved and 
replaced by a Provisionary Committee. This Committee, 
after pronouncing numerous decrees and several capital 
condemnations (which fortunately were never executed), 
finding themselves gradually abandoned by the very Na- 
tional Guards who had at first supported them, decided 
to retire, which they did after drawing up a paper declar- 
ing that, being no longer supported by the National 
Guards, they considered themselves as released from all 
engagements with their constituents, and threw up all 



A PEEFECT MUEDERED. 79 

their powers. Tlie next morning a battalion devoted to the 
cause of order came to take possession of the municipal 
edifice, and re-estabHsh the tri-colored flag, in the midst 
of cries, a thousand times repeated, of " Vive la Repub- 
lique ! " " Vive V AssemUee Nationale ! " 

At Marseilles the same attempt was made with rather 
more serious results. The insurgents took possession' of 
the Prefecture, hoisted the red flag, and for some time 
controlled the destinies of the city; but they were finally 
put down by the regular forces. 

Toulouse and St. Etienne also followed the lead of Paris, 
both declaring the Commune, but both were convinced of 
the error of their ways by more or less loss of life. 

At St. Etienne the Prefect of the Loire was most basely 
murdered in the night, at a moment when all was sup- 
posed to be over. The murderer, however, was immedi- 
ately executed. 

The fusion between the Central Committee and some of 
the Mayors and Deputies of Paris in regard to holding 
the elections, took place on Saturday night, March 26th, 
the day before the elections were to take place. This fu- 
sion, however, was by no means unanimous. Out of the 
twenty Mayors of Paris there were only seven who adhered 
to the manifesto, and out of sixty adjoints only thirty-one. 
Some of them were absent and could not be called upon 
to take any decision. Others had protested publicly against 
this convocation of electors, in which they persisted in 
seeing a serious encroachment on the rights of the National 
Assembly, and consequently on the sovereignty of the peo= 
pie. Out of forty-three deputies nominated in Paris on 
February 8th, there were only ten, or less than a fourth, 
who consented to unite with M. Assi, his comrades, and a 
portion of the elected municipalities. 

A proclamation was prepared in common between the 



80 THE PAEIS COMMTNE. 

fusionists. The committee, however, in publishing their 
version, modified and changed the wording, without giving 
any notice to tlie mayors, making it read : 

"The Central Committee of the National Guard to 
wliicli the deputies, mayors, and adjoints of Paris have 
rallied, being convinced that the only way to avoid civil 
war, and also strengthen the Eepublic," etc. ; whereas the 
proper wording and the one agreed to, read: "The deputies 
of Paris, the mayors, and the elected adjoints, reinstalled 
in the mairies of their arrondissements, and the members 
of the Central Federal Committee of the National Guard, 
convinced that in order to prevent civil war and the 
effusion of blood, as well as to strengthen the Eepublic, it 
is necessary to proceed immediately to the elections, con- 
voke the electors for Sunday in their respective colleges. 

" Signed by the representatives of the Seine present in 
Paris— 

'' K LocTcroy, Cli. Floquet, 0. Clemenccau, 
Tolain, and Greppo — also ty some of tlie 
mayors and adjoints" 

A deputation was sent to inform the Government of 
this resolution, and a notice was forwarded to the National 
Printing Office, and posted up in the evening. 

M. Tifaud, mayor of the second arrondissement, also 
issued from Versailles an address, in which he announced 
that being convinced of the imminent necessity for the 
measure, he had just signed, with several deputies for 
Paris, a demand presented by M. Louis Blanc to obtain 
from the Assembly a declaration to justify the course 
adopted by the mayors and adjoints. We have seen in 
what manner this demand was rejected by the Assembly. 

Six deputies of the Assembly, nominated from Paris, 
published the following proclamation to the electors on 
the eve of the election : 



APPEAL POR A VOTE. 81 

" Paeis, March 25th, 1871. 

"CiTizEKS: — The question of the moment in Paris, 
where the legislative power has refused to sit, and from 
which the executive is absent, is whether the conflict 
which lias arisen between citizens equally devoted to the 
Republic should be decided by material or moral force. 
We have the consciousness of having done all that wo 
could for the ordinary law to bo applied in the exceptional 
crisis through which we are passing. We have proposed 
to the National Assembly all the measures of conciliation 
of a nature to appease the public mind, and avoid civil 
war. Your elected mayors have gone to Versailles to con- 
vey the legitimate complaints of those who wish that 
Paris should not be at the same time deprived of its situa- 
tion as capital and of its municipal rights, which belong 
to all the towns and communes of the Eepnblic. Neither 
your elected mayors nor your representatives in the Assem- 
bly have succeeded in obtaining a reconciliation. To-day, 
placed between civil war for our fellow-citizens and a 
serious responsibility for ourselves, decided on anything 
rather than permit the shedding of one drop of that 
Parisian blood which you lately offered for the defence 
and honor of France, we say to you, Let us terminate the 
conflict by a vote, and not by arms. We shall thus be 
investing with the municipal authority honest and ener- 
getic Eepublicans, who, by preserving order, will spare 
France the terrible danger of an offensive return of the 
Prussians, and the rash attempts of dynastic pretensions. 
We said yesterday in the National Assembly that we 
would take on ourselves the responsibility of all measures 
that could prevent an effusion of blood. We have done 
our duty in opening to you our minds. Vive la France ! 
Vive la RepuUique! 

" Schcelcher, Floqiiet, Lochroy, Glemenceau, 
Tolain, Greppo — the Representatives of 
tlie Seine present in Paris'' 
4* 



82 THE PARIS COMMUIsTE. 

Admiral Saisset, in whom so much hope was centered, 
resigned his commission as Commander-in-Chief of the 
National Guards of Paris. He had seen the immense 
organization of the insurgents, and the lukewarmness 
with which the National Guard rallied round his standard. 
The mayors also, who were specially lukewarm on the 
question of law and order, thought it better that he 
should resign, before doing which he issued the following 
order : 

" I haye the honor to inform the chiefs of corps, officers, 
and National Guards of the Seine, that I authorize them to 
return to their homes, from Saturday the 25th, at seven 
in the evening. 

" Saisset, 

" Vice-Admiral, Commander-in-Chief." 

All the inhabitants of Place Vendome were obliged to 
leave their apartments in the charge of domestics. The 
National Guards or insurgents of the Place turned out 
these latter at two hours' notice on the 25th March, and 
took up their quarters in the houses, at the same time 
issuing a notice that, guided by a desire for conciliation, 
and happy in bringing about a union, the incessant object 
of all their efforts, they frankly offered a fraternal hand to 
all who were opposed to them ; but that the continuance 
of certain manoeuvres, and especially the removal by night 
of mitrailleuses to the mairie of the first arrondissement, 
obliged them to maintain their first resolution. The 
elections will positively take place to-morrow, 26th March. 
If they have mistaken the intention of their adversaries, 
they invited them to prove their error, and to join them 
in the general vote to-morrow. 

On Sunday morning the voting places were opened at 
eight o'clock, but at that hour scarcely any one attended. 
At the same time the following proclamation from the 



PROCLAMATION OP COMMITTEE. 83 

Central Committee attracted crowds of readers in the 
streets : 

" PaPvIs, 26tli March. 

"At the moment we write the Central Committee will 
have cle jure, if not de facto, ceded its place to the Com- 
mune. Having fulfilled the mission imposed upon it by 
necessity, it will reduce itself to the special functions for 
which it was called into existence ; and which, violently 
disputed by the Executive, obliged it to struggle to con- 
quer or to die with the city, whose armed representative 
it was. 

"Expression of the municipal liberty legitimately, 
judicially, insurgent against governmental arbitrariness, 
the Committee had no other task than to prevent, at any 
price, that Paris should be deprived of the primordial 
right it had triumphantly conquered. The day after the 
vote it may be said to have done its duty. 

" As to the elected Commune, its part will be very dif- 
ferent, and perhaps its means also. Before everything it 
will have to define its mandate and determine its attri- 
butes. That constituent power which is accorded so wide, 
so indefinite, so confused to a French National Assembly, 
it will have to exercise for itself, that is to say, for the 
city of which it is the representative. 

"Therefore, its first work will be the discussion and 
preparation of a Charter, of that act which our ancestors 
of the Middle Ages called their commune. That accom- 
phslied, it will have to consider the means of making 
recognized and guaranteed by the central power, what- 
ever that may be, this statute of municipal autonomy. 
This portion of its task will be none the less arduous if 
the movement, localized in Paris and one or two large 
cities, permits the present National Assembly to prolong a 
mission which good sense and the force of things limited 
to the conclusion of peace, and which has already been 
some time accomplished. 



84 THEPAEIS COMMUNE. 

'•'To a usurpation of power the new body will not have 
to respond by a similar step. Federated with the com- 
munes of France already freed, it will have in its own 
name, and those of Lyons, Marseilles, and perhaps soon 
of ten large towns, to study the clauses of the contract 
which will unite them to the nation and to draw up the 
ultimatum of the treaty they intend to sign. 

" What will the terms of it be ? First of all ihe fact is 
clear that it will have to contain the guarantee of the 
autonomy and sovereignty reconquered by the munici- 
pality. In the second place, it will have to assure the free 
play of the relations between the Commune and the repre- 
sentatives of the national unity. 

" Finally, it will have to impose on the Assembly, if it 
consents to negotiate, the promulgation of an electoral 
law such that the representation of the towns shall not in 
future be absorbed, and as it were drowned in that of the 
country districts. So long as a measure conceived in 
that spirit shall not have been applied, the broken na- 
tional unity, the destroyed social equilibrium, cannot bo 
re-established. 

" On those conditions, and those only, the insurgent 
city will again become the capital. Its spirit, circulating- 
more freely throughout France, will soon become that of 
the nation itself, the sentiment of order, progress, justice, 
that is to say, of revolution. 

" Avoine Fils, Ant. ArnaucJ, G. Arnold, 
Assi, AncUgnoux, Bouit, J. Bergeret, 
Bdbick, Barou, Billioray, Blanchet, 
Castioni, Cliouteau, C. Buipont, Ferrat, 
Fabre, Fleury, Fougeret, O. Gaudier, 
Gouliier, Guirdl, Geresme, Grolard, Jos- 
selin, F. Jourde, Bavalette, Ifdljournal, 
Ed. Moreau, Prudliomme, Rousseau, 
Ranvier, Varlin, Viard — Le Comite de 
la Garde Nationale." 



CHAPTER IV. 

Successful results obtained by the Committee on the elections— Small number of 
voters— List of the Commune — Delescluze resigns his seat in the Assembly 
and becomes member of the Commune— Ceremony at the Hotel do Villa — 
Commissioners appointed by the Commune — Proclamations — Decrees — The 
red flag floats from the Tuileries — Absolute Power of the Commune— Sub- 
Committee of eleven members — Garibaldi — Opinions of the Communist 
Journals— Post-offlce Director appointed by the Commune — Imprisonment of 
Sullier — Situation of Paris — Preparations of the insurgents — Concentration 
of their troops — Plan of attack — Engagement at Meudon — Chatillon— Sortie 
by the Port Maillot— The insurgents met by the Versailles troops— Bearer 
of a flag of truce shot by the insurgents— Their precipitate retreat— Charge 
of the gendarmes— False bulletins of the Commune— Arrival of the insur- 
gents, commanded by Flourens, at Reuil— Barricades erected in the streets 
— Arrival of the gendarmes and capture of the barricades — Utter rout of the 
Federals— Search for Flourens— He is discovered and killed— His aide-de- 
camp taken prisoner. 

THE elections passed oJBf quietly throughout the city, 
except in one or two quarters where the contro- 
versy between the adherents of the Commune, or insur- 
gents, and the Order party was exceedingly bitter, and 
even blows were resorted to — a very unusual thing in 
Paris or among the French people. The Committee can- 
didates were returned by large majorities. The Conserva- 
tive or Order party were only successful in the 1st, 2d, 
and 16th arrondissements. These represent the quarters 
of the Louvre, the Bourse, and Passy. Two arrondisse- 
ments elected candidates representing the fusion between 
the Committee and the Advanced Kepublicans ; the other 
fifteen returned Committee candidates. The number of 
votes cast was comparatively small — 180,000 only voting. 
At the elections on the 12th of February, 620,000 electors 
were inscribed. Out of the 180,000 votes the Commune 
received 120,000, or less than one-fifth of the whole 



86 THE PARIS COMMUNE. 

number of votes. Thus the party of Order having refused 
to vote, or fled their posts, the authority of the city was 
left in the hands of an insurrectionary minority, vs^ho, 
taking advantage of this parody of an election, sought 
not only to control the destinies of Paris, but the rest of 
France. 

The triumph of the Committee was most decisive in 
Vilette, Montmartre, Belleville, and Montrouge, where 
the voting was unanimous. 

With the exception of Felix Pyat, Delescluze, Blanqui, 
Flourens, and Gambon, the successful candidates were 
mostly unknown to fame, but known to be men belonging 
to different international societies, or societies of " Trades- 
Union." As all these societies in Europe are political, 
the ambition of their chiefs is the primary object ; the 
benefit of the workingman (if he ever receives any 
benefit from his connection with such a society), the 
secondary. The leading members of the Commune, or 
International, wished to introduce into society what is 
called " Socialism," supposed to be founded in a love of 
liberty, equality, and respect for human life. This So- 
cialism is a misnomer, which the actions of its adherents 
has always proven ; it is an empty sound full of wickedness 
and deceit, and may be summed up in this axiom : " The 
right of those who have not, to take from those who 
have." What the Commune or Committee wanted was to 
keep the power in their own hands. Their disinterested- 
ness was as pure as their love of liberty, which consisted 
in arresting citizens on the slightest provocation. 

Out of thirty-seven members of the Central Committee 
twenty were elected as members of the Commune. The 
Committee were supjjosed to withdraw and leave the 
Hotel de Yille to the newly constituted authorities. Such, 
however, was not, it would seem, their intention, as every- 
thing remained on Monday morning guarded as before. 




MIOT 

CominiLne of Pans, 
1871 



ROLL OF THE COMMUNE. 87 

The day after the Commune was elected it composed 
one hundred and six members. At the end there were but 
fifty. One by one they had retired, some from disgust, 
others from horror, the greater part from prudence. Many 
gave their demission at once, and are noted in the following 
list as cUmissiomiaires : 

Adam, demissionnaire ; Amouroux ; Arnauld (Antoine); 
Arnould (Arthur) ; Alix, a Mazas ; Andrieux ; Arnold ; 
Assi; Avrial. 

Babick ; Barre, demissionnaire ; Brelay, demissionnaire ; 
Blanchet, 4 Mazas; Beslay, demissionnaire; Brunei; Billi- 
oray ; Bouteiller (de), demissionnaire ; Blanqui, detenu ; 
Briosne, a refuse ; Bergeret. 

Cheron, demissionnaire ; Clemence ; Champy ; Chardon ; 
Clement (J. B.) ; Chalain ; Clement (Victor) ; Cluseret, a 
Mazas ; Courbet ; Clement (Emile) ; Cournet. 

Demay; Dupont; Desmaret, demissionnaire; Duval, 
mort; Decamp; Dereure; Durand; Delescluze; Dupont 
(Clovis). 

Eudes. 

Ferry, demissionnaire ; Fortune (Henry) ; Fruneau, de- 
missionnaire ; Frankel (Leo); Ferre; Flourens, mort. 

G-erardin ; Goupil, demissionnaire ; Gambon ; Geresme ; 
Gerardin (Charles), en fuite avec Eossel ; Grousset (Pas- 
chal) ; Garibaldi (M.), a refuse. 

Jourde; Johannard. 

Loiseau, demissionnaire; Lefrangais; Ledroit; Leroy, 
demissionnaire ; Lefevre, demissionnaire ; Langevin ; Lon- 
clas; Longuet. 

Meline, demissionnaire ; Murat, demissionnaire ; Mor- 
tier; Meillet (Leo); Martelet; Marmottan, demission- 
naire; Malon; Miot (Jules). 

Nast, demissionnaire. 

Ostyn; Oudet. 



88 THE PAEIS COMMUNE. 

Protot ; Puget; Pillot; Pyat (Felix); Philippe ;. Parent 
(Ulysse), demissionnaire ; Parisot ; Pettier ; Pindy. 

Eanc, demissionnaire ; Eanvier ; Eogeard, a refuse ; Po- 
chard, demissionnaire ; Eegere ; Eobinet, demissionnaire ; 
Eossel, en fuite ; Eigault (Eaonl) ; Eastoul. 

Serrailler; Sicard. 

Tirard, demissionnaire ; Tridon ; Theisz ; Trinquet. 

TJrbin. 

Vaillant ; Verdure ; Varlin ; Vall^s (Jules) ; Vermorel ; 
Vesinier; Yiard. 

These individuals formed the Commune, which was 
only a new name for the Central Committee, whose mem- 
bers, instead of retiring into private life, as was inferred 
from their official announcement the day before the elec- 
tion, evidently intended to stay where they were. On the 
Place -Vendome the precautions taken were considerably 
more minute and searching than previously, and an im- 
mense barricade was erected at the southern end, furnished 
with pieces of cannon pointed against the Eue Castiglione, 
and the Eue St. Hon ore, both to the east and west. 

Delescluze, one of those few who formed part of a sort 
of secret committee for the Central Committee, was elected 
in several arrondissements. He wrote to the President of 
the National Assembly resigning his seat in that body, 
where he declared he had only remained to impeach the 
dictators of the 4th of September. He added that being 
unwilling to associate himself with the insanities and 
passions of the Chamber, and having been returned by 
several arrondissements of Paris to the Commune, he had 
decided upon giving the preference to the latter delegation. 

The announcement of the vote for the Commune was 
made at the Hotel de Ville on the 28th with considerable 
ceremony. The gate below the clock-tower was hung with 
red, blue, and green drapery, whilst the statue of Henry IV 



THE VOTE FOR THE COMMUNE. 89 

above was concealed with a crimson curtain. A plat- 
form ornamented with a bust of a female figure repre- 
senting the Eepublic, had been erected in front of the 
building, and on it were placed arm-chairs for the accom- 
modation of the Committee. Cannon were drawn up on 
the square, which was also occupied by about 20,000 Na- 
tional Guards in close ranks. Other battalions waited in 
the adjacent streets and on the quay. At four o'clock 
Citizen Assi rose and announced that the power of the 
Central Committee had transpired and Avas now trans- 
ferred to the Commune. He then read aloud the names 
of the Councillors elected. Cries of " Vive la RepuUique! " 
were raised, the trumpets sounded, drums beat, and caps 
were waved in the air. About four o'clock salvos were fired 
from the Hotel de Ville, and answered by the guns at 
Montmartre. This cannonade created considerable alarm 
among the inhabitants, who imagined that the troops of 
Versailles had arrived at Paris, or that the Prussians had 
returned to restore order. All the National Guards pres- 
ent, to the number of 60,000, then marched past the dais 
on which the Committee was seated. In the evening the 
Arc de Triomphe, barracks, and principal public buildings 
were illuminated. 

It will be remembered that the Committee had solemnly 
promised to retire on the new election ; that it had repre- 
sented such precipitate resignation as one of its highest 
titles to glory. However, after reading the official organ 
of the insurgents, one was led to believe that the occu- 
pants of the Hotel de Ville had already reconsidered their 
determination. In fact that body, after having declared 
that it ceded its place to the Commune, added : " Having 
fulfilled the extraordinary mission imposed upon it by 
necessity, it will reduce itself to the special functions for 
which it was called into existence." Thus admitting that 
it had at the same time an extraordinary mission and a 



90 THE PAEIS COMMUNE. 

special function. It abdicated the first, but retained the 
second. What did that mean, and in what consisted that 
attribution which escaped the Commnne? The sequel 
will illustrate. 

The Communists were divided into the following com- 
mittees, the record of which is taken from the first 
number of the ofl&cial Journal of the Commune, pub- 
lished the 30th of March, 1871. 

COMMISSION EXECUTIVE. 

Les citoyens: Eudes, Tridon, Vaillant, Lefran9ais, 
Duval, Felix Pyat, Bergeret. 

COMMISSION DES FINANCES. 

Les citoyens : Victor Clement, Varlin, Jourde, Beslay, 
Eeg^re. 

COMMISSION MILITAIRE. 

Les citoyens : Pindy, Eudes, Bergeret, Duval, Chardon, 
Flourens, Eanvier. 

COMMISSION DE LA JUSTICE. 

Les citoyens : Pane, Protot, Leo Meillet, Vermorel, 
Ledroit, Babick. 

COMMISSION DE SUKETE GENEEALE. 

Les citoyens : Paoul Eigault, Eerre, Assi, Cournet, 
Oudet, Chalain, Gerardin. 

COMMISSION DES SUBSISTANCES. 

Les citoyens : Dereure, Champy, Ostyn, Clement, Pari- 
zel, Eniile Clement, Henry Fortune. 

COMMISSION DU TEAVAIL. — INDUSTEIE ET ECHANGE. 

Les citoyens : Malon, Frankel, Theisz, Dupont, Avrial, 
Loiseau-Pinson, Eug. Gerardin, Puget. 




MEGY 
Loininurie of Pans 



18 71 



PROCLAMATION OF THE COMMUNE. 91 

COMMISSION" DES RELATIONS EXTERIEUEES. 

Les citoyens: Delescluze, Eaiic, Paschal Grousset, 
Ulysse Parent, Arthur Arnould, Ant. Arnauld, Ch. 
Girardin. 

COMMISSION DES SERVICES PUBLICS. 

Les citoyens: Ostyn, Billoray, J. B. Clement, Mar- 
delet, Mortier, Eastoul. 

COMMISSION DE l'ENSEIGNEMENT. 

Les citoyens: Jules Valles, Docteur Goupil, Lefevre, 
Urbain, Albert Leroy, Verdure, Demay, Docteur Robinet. 

Also the following proclamations : 
" The Central Committee has remitted its powers to the 
Commune. 

"COMMUNE OF PARIS. 

Hotel de Ville, 29tli Mar., 1871. 

" Citoyens : — Your Commune is constituted. 

"The vote of the 26th of March has sanctioned the 
victorious revolution. 

"'A cowardly aggressive pov/er had taken you by the 
throat. You have in your legitimate defence repulsed 
from your walls this Government which wished to dis- 
honor you by imposing upon you a king. 

" To-day these criminals, whom you have no desire to 
pursue, abuse your magnanimity in organizing, even at 
the gates of your city, a monarchical conspiracy. They 
invoke civil war ; they set at work every corruption ; they 
accept all accomplices ; they have dared even to ask aid 
from the foreigner. We cite these execrable underhand 
plotters to judgment before France and before the world." 

" Citoyens : — We are about to confer on you institu- 
tions that will defy all attacks. 

"You are masters of your destinies. Strong in your 



93 THE PARIS COMMUNE. 

support, the representatives whom you haye just elected 
are about to repair the disasters caused by the forfeited 
Government. Compromised industry, suspended labor, 
paralyzed commercial transactions, will all receive a 
vigorous impulse. 

" To-day the awaited decision on rents — to-morrow, 
that of payment of bills due. 

" All public service re-established and simplified. 

" The National Guard reorganized without delay, will 
remain the only armed force of the city. 

" These will be our first acts. 

"The elected of the people only wish the confidence of 
their electors to assure the triumph of the Eepublic. 
They will be sure to do their duty. 

"La Commune de Paris." 

" Hotel di: Velle, 29th Mar., 1871. 

"The Commune of Paris decrees — 

" 1st. The Conscription is abolished. 

" 2d. No military force other than thp National Guard 
can be created, or can enter the city. 

" All valid citizens will form a part of the National 
Guard. "La Commune de Paris." 

"Hotel de Vellb, 29tli Mar., 1871. 

"The Commune of Paris— 

" Considering that labor, industry and commerce have 
supported all the changes of the war— that it is only just 
that property should make some sacrifice to the country, 

" Decrees — 

" Art. 1st. A general remission is made to the tenant 
of the three-quarters rent due October 1870, January 1871, 
and April 1871. 

" Art. 2. Any sum paid by the tenant during these nine 
months will be deducted from future payments. 



THE RED FLAG HOISTED. 93 

" Art. 3. Equally are remitted any sums due for 
furnished apartments. 

" Art. 4. All leases are renewable only at the pleasure 
of the tenant (they could be renewed only on his terms, 
whether unexpired or not), which may be done any time 
during six months from date of present decree. 

" Art. 5. All notices to quit may be prorogued for three 
months, at the pleasure of the tenant. 

"La Commune de Paris." 

There were seyeral other decrees issued the first day of 
more or less importance : one prohibiting goyernment 
officials from receiving orders from the Versailles govern- 
ment ; another prohibiting any proclamation emanating 
from Versailles being posted on the walls ; another ap- 
pointing General Bergeret Commandant la Place de 
Paris, Etat-Major at Place Vendome, whence all military 
orders, watch-words, etc., must emanate. 

One of the first acts of the Commune was to display the 
red flag from the Palace of the Tuileries. Hearing also 
that the Duke d'Aumdle was in France, the official 
journal, speaking on the subject, said : " Society has only 
one duty towards princes — death ! It is only bound to 
observe one formality — the proof of identity. The 
Orleans are in France ; the Bonapartes desire to return ; 
let all good citizens te learned and act ! ! ! " 

In reading the official organ of the Commune, one can- 
not be mistaken as to the scope of the movement of which 
Paris had taken the initiative. The business of the newly 
elected members was to discuss and draw up, like French- 
men in the middle ages, their charter and constitution, 
and to devise means for getting them recognized and 
guaranteed by the central power. Thus France, without 
suspecting the fact, and without the movement having 
been prepared or indicated by any book, journal, speaker. 



94 THE PAEIS COMMUTE. 

meeting, club, or tendency, just on the morrow of a war 
of invasion which ravaged her territory, — France was in- 
vited to pass from unity, the work of so many ages, to the 
federation of mediseval times! Strange indeed are the 
surprises in the lives of nations, and above all, in the 
movements of great cities ! 

The working engineer Assi, one of the chiefs of this 
great revolt— a man without instruction or judgment, but 
of an energetic character, has avowed that he never read 
but one book — the " Revolutions of Italy,'' a work by 
Edgar Quinet, which he was incapable of understanding 
by reason of his inadequate information, but by which his 
imagination was much affected. Italy, which in three 
hundred years up to the time of Charles V, presents the 
spectacle of seven thousand revolutions, must most assur- 
edly have offered to Citizen Assi the complete model of an 
entire system. The elected Commune had to draw up 
its charter. The watchmaker Tirard, the dyer Loiseau- 
Pinson, sat side by side as members of the Central Com- 
mittee, and disposed of Paris, the capital of a great 
nation, as Congress would have disposed of a nuisance in 
the District of Columbia. 

In a word, the new Commune was constituent, and 
acknowledged no other authority than its own — a spec- 
tacle unique in the world. Neither in the United States 
nor Switzerland, where communal liberties are so great, 
has anything of the kind ever existed. Such was the 
situation — a return to the middle ages — a retrogression 
of eight centuries — federation substituted for unity — 
universal suffrage become a dead letter — the Prussian 
invasion considered as one of those accidents from which 
Paris had to disengage its responsibility, as the Assembly 
at Versailles only existed on condition of being an annex 
to the Commune. 

It has been well said of the newly elected Commune 



A PROTEST FOR GARIBALDI. 95 

what Emile de Girardin said in 1848 to the orators of the 
Socialist School and to Louis Blanc : " You are agitators, 
but will never be reformers/' 

A Central Sub-Committee was formed at the Hotel de 
Ville, on the proposal of Assi, and was composed of him- 
self and eleven other members, viz., Cluseret, Bergeret, 
Henry, Gasnier, Babick, Avoine, Jr., Avrial, Maljournal, 
Duval, Geresme, and General Garibaldi as honorary presi- 
dent. That body took the direction of the National 
Guard, the elections of which it prepared, and was charged 
with the protection of the -Municipal Council, the main- 
tenance of order in the city, and the payment of the civic 
force. All accusations of treason against the Eepublic 
were also referred to it. 

As the Central Committee had, and the Commune was 
making, considerable capital by invariably associating the 
name of Garibaldi with the insurgent National Guards, M. 
Jules de Precy, editor of the XiJer^e, published the fol- 
lowing, for which and other articles in opposition to the 
Commune that journal was sup^essed : 

"The journal official of the Commune has confided the 
military powers to three delegates, ' hi aioaiting the arrival 
of General Garibaldi, proclaimed General-in-Chief ! Now, 
men of the Committee, we say to you. Never — Never! 
Do you hear ? Garibaldi will never associate himself 
with this civil war, of which you are the authors. 

"We, who know him — we, who have on so many occa- 
sions admired his resignation, his patriotism, his abnega- 
tion, his tolerance — we proclaim it before the world that 
he execrates as much as we your bloody dictatorship. 
The great citizen, whom you trumpet in all your faubourgs, 
marching on Eome, found himself at Aspromonte, in the 
midst of inaccessible mountains, surrounded by 10,000 
volunteers ready to the last man to die for their beloved 



96 THE PAEIS COMMUNE. 

General ; he could with a gesture, with a single word, 
have stirred uj) to rebellion Sicily, Naples, and Central 
Italy; all this he could have done, but he scorned the 
action ; he surrendered himself and his volunteers after 
having received, without returning it, the fire of the royal 
troops. 

" One month later, Garibaldi, wounded, lay upon his bed 
in the prison of Eort Varignano. We ran to shake him by 
the hand ; he gave us a lengthy account of this unfortunate 
epoch, and, with sparkling eye and beating heart, he ter- 
minated his narrative with these words : ' I have yielded ; 
civil war . . . .never ! never ! ' Garibaldi will never come ; 
your works to him are horrible. 

" Not only will he never come, but we defy you to draw 
from him a single line — a single word — which will not be a 
disavowal of your acts, a reprobation of your indulgences." 

The different Communist journals which were started 
in Paris for the support of the insurrection, demanded 
the immediate dissolution of the National Assembly. 
The Vengeu7', on the gmiind that it was incomplete, in 
consequence of the resignation of the deputies of Paris — 
that it no longer represented the country, and, therefore, 
its pretensions to enact laws and govern France was 
usurpation and high treason. The Cri du Peuple recom- 
mended the "rurals" of Versailles to go and die in their 
cow-houses. The Nouvelle RepuUique considered that 
the accession of the Commune would revive confidence ; 
and expressed the opinion that a "timid capital" would 
reappear if the " rurals " of the Assembly would permit 
it ; but as they were not disposed to do so, these " fugitives 
must be run to earth" in the indispensable interest of 
labor and commerce. The Mont-Aventin, in its turn, 
urged the Chamber to " depart," under penalty of being 
" thrown out of the window ; " however, it consented to 
allow the "peasants of Versailles" a week to pack up 



PARIS ON APRIL FIRST, 1871. 97 

their trunks. The Pere Ducfiene advised the Commune 
to dissolve the Assembly, which, " after having subscribed 
to the shame of France, was conspiring for the destruction 
of the Republic." 

The Commune, wishing to take possession of the Post- 
office, sent word to the director that, considering the dis- 
order that prevailed in the postal service, it was necessary 
to make a change in the administration, and that Citizen 
Theisz was charged with the direction. 

The postal service was the best managed in France, but 
the director was obliged to give place to the insurrection. 
The director, chifef clerk, and all the heads of offices, left 
the next day for Versailles. 

Internal dissension had already commenced among the 
members of the Commune ; and M. Lullier was sent to 
the Conciergerie, whence he wrote a long protest to the 
journals, complaining of the treatment he had met with 
from the Central Committee. According to his account, 
the entire defence of Paris was organized and successfully 
carried out by him ; but that when his colleagues had no 
further need of him, and he had recommended them to 
exercise moderation in their conduct, they had thrown 
him into prison, where he still remained. 

It would be necessary to go back some fifteen centuries 
to find in the celebrated city of Syracuse a case parallel 
to that of Paris on the first day of April, 1871. The 
Prussians held the northern and eastern forts, the in- 
surgents were masters of the southern forts, the city, and 
its walls; and the regular Government was reduced to the 
possession of Mont Valerien, situated at the west, but the 
most powerful of all the forts. 

The insurgents, emboldened by their success, com- 
menced to make most important preparations, with a view 
of attacking the Assembly at Versailles. They disarmed 
all the National Guards suspected of any attachment to 



98 THE PARIS COMMUTE. 

the cause of order. They reorganized the fr.anc-tireurs, 
created twenty war battalions, twenty batteries of cannon, 
and fifteen of mitrailleuses. They requisitioned horses, 
pillaged the arsenals, gave orders for immense supplies of 
powder, petroleum, gun-cotton, and nitro-glycerine ; and 
on the 30th of March the preparations were completed, 
and active operations commenced. They had 70,000 Na- 
tional Guards in marching order, furnished with rations 
for eight days, and excited to the highest possible pitch 
of enthusiasm. 

On the 31st their plans were developed, and on the 
1st of April they had concentrated tKeir troops to the 
south and northwest of Paris. On the morning of the 
3d the whole army of the insurgents set out for Versailles 
by three different routes — one column by the St. Germain 
road, a second by that of Sevres and a third, commanded 
by Duval, by that of Chevreuse. Three simultaneous at- 
tacks appear to have been contemplated in the plan devised 
by the Commune. The first commenced toward Sevres, 
early in the morning ; a^d the musketry fire was so sharp 
that as the Versailles train arrived the passengers were 
obliged to put up the cushions against the windows to 
protect themselves from the shower of balls. The train 
from Paris was obliged to put back. 

Numerous battalions of National Guards issued from 
the forts of Issy and Vanves, but on that side the engage- 
ment was one principally of artillery. The insurgents, in 
advancing on Meudon were fired on by the cannon of the 
regulars, and much damaged. The first moment of sur- 
prise being passed, the battalions formed themselves in 
line of battle along the road ; but the palace battery on 
the heights of Meudon raked the valley, and obliged them 
to fall back on the reinforcements arriving by the gates 
on the south of Paris. An attempt was then made to 
open fire with the pieces of cannon brought with them, 



BRAVEKY OF THE INSURGENTS. 99 

but the shot was found to be not of the right calibre, so 
that the guns were useless. Fort Issy replied with con- 
siderable vigor, and in a short time a fire of musketry 
became general from Meudon to Chatillon, where a second 
column attempted to gain Versailles by the road through 
Clamart and Velizy. 

The first battalions, engaged towards Meudon, had, liow- 
eyer, started too early and in too small numbers, and were 
in a yery short time completely disorganized. At 8 o'clock 
reinforcements arriyed and raised the number of the insur- 
gents to 20,000 men, with thirty-six guns. They re-formed 
ranks by degrees, and again assumed the offensiye. Scat- 
tered bands concealed in the woods, in gardens, behind 
walls, and in the old Prussian trenches, kept up a desul- 
tory fire on the regular troops, who continued to increase 
in numbers as they advanced, and eventually became mas- 
ters of the ground. But towards four o'clock new rein- 
forcements having been sent to the insurgents, who had 
fallen back on the village of Issy, the latter resumed the 
offensive, and advanced in their turn to scale the heights 
of Meudon. In this attack they gave proof of the greatest 
amount of courage and personal daring; but the Ver- 
sailles troops were in admirable order and admirably com- 
manded, and numbers were compelled to give way before 
discipline. For the second time they were driven back 
behind the fortress of Issy, exasperated beyond all.bounds 
at their defeat, putting to death wounded men whom they 
found on the field of battle. Meudon and Issy kept up 
an artillery duel more or less violent until seven o'clock. 
The ambulance service had not been prepared, and the 
wounded were not all brought in until late in the night. 
Until four in the afternoon the gates were closed to all 
who wished to enter, but after that hour the different bat- 
talions and fugitives entered the city pell-mell. 

The column commanded by General Eudes (a liberated 



100 THE PARIS COMMIJN"E. 

murderer in the service of the Commune), numbering 
some 35,000 men, passed by Fontenay-au-Eoses and 
Plessis-Piquet, and entered the road Irom Sceaux to Ver- 
sailles. They arrived without difficulty at Lo Petit Bi- 
c^tre, where the road is joined by that of Choisy-le-Koi, 
Here they were met by some other battalions coming from 
La Croix de Berney. They were about to proceed, as they 
thought, in an uninterrupted manner to Versailles, when 
they Avere . suddenly attacked by the regular troops from 
the woods of Verrieres on the left, and Meudon on the 
right. The road was well guarded, and it was impossible 
to proceed further. They immediately began a precipitate 
retreat, and at four o'clock had arrived at the plateau of 
Chatillon in a complete state of disorder. During the 
whole of that evening and night a stream of tired, dusty 
and desperate men passed the different draw-bridges, many 
without arms and with torn clothes, and all demoralized, 
declaring that they had been betrayed — that their leaders 
were cowards or traitors, and ought to be shot. 

Early on Tuesday morning the whole plateau of Cha- 
tillon was evacuated by the insurgents, and later in the 
day occupied by the regular troops without a blow being 
struck ; and on that prominent position the batteries were 
planted which, with the help of Meudon, eventually 
silenced the forts of Vanves and Issy. 

The column commanded by General Bergeret, a master 
mason, with Gustave Flourens, a hot-brained traitor, origi- 
nator and stirrer-up of revolutions, second in command, left 
Porte Maillot on the night of the 'M of April, intending 
to pass through ISTeuilly, Nanterre and Eueil, and attack 
Versailles in the rear. It was thought by some that it 
intended to take Mont Valerien on its route, the men 
having been informed that the commandant of that fort 
was more anxious to deliver it up to the insurgents than 
they were to take it. This column had made itself most 



MURDER OF DR. PASQUIER. 101 

talked about. It was not the one, however, on which the 
most reliance was placed. If it were successful, it was to 
push its advantage — if not, to return in good order. 

The column started headed by Bergeret in a victoria 
drawn by two horses. He was surrounded by his staff, 
dressed up in the most gorgeous and theatrical costumes, 
their belts filled with immense revolvers, and brandishing 
large sabres, shouting "« Versailles!" "a Versailles!" . 

The Government of Versailles, which had been informed 
on the previous day that the insurgents were having large 
bodies of men concentrated at Puteaux and Surennes 
preparatory to marching on Versailles, decided to send a 
division of men to meet the battalions from Paris and 
summon them to lay down their arms. In consequence, 
some troops, under the order of Captain Bruat of the 'Na\j, 
and composed of two regiments of the line, some sailors, 
mounted gendarmes, chasseurs d'Afrique, and two mitrail- 
leuses, were sent in the middle of the night to Mont 
Valerien. 

About six in the morning some shots were exchanged 
between the outposts. At seven, General Vinoy arrived at 
the fort and gave his orders. Soon after Dr. Pasquier, of 
the mounted gendarmes, preceded by a trumpeter and 
accompanied by two men, presented himself with a flag 
of truce at tlie bridge of Courbevoie. Two of the insur- 
gents met him, and after a few words had passed, one of 
the latter drew a revolver and shot Dr. Pasquier dead on 
the spot. Fire was immediately opened on all sides, and 
the news that the bearer of a flag of truce had been killed 
caused extreme indignation. 

The gendarmes, especially, swore to avenge their doctor, 
whom they adored, and when the order was given to charge 
they did so with the greatest fury. At first the combat 
was one of skirmishes. The sailors and the regular troops 
formed one long line of constant fire, which closed in 
continually and directed its aim on the head of the 



102 THE PARIS COMMUTE. 

columns of the Commune, whicli were effecting a move- 
ment toward Oourbevoie. At the same time Mont Va- 
lerian sent at them a few shell and hoite-d-mitraille (grape- 
shot). About nine o'clock the action became general along 
the line of the insurgents, when the mitrailleuses were 
brought forward, and a few well-directed discharges threw 
confusion into their ranks. Their retreat commenced in 
the greatest disorder, soon becoming a total route. The 
mounted gendarmes charged in pursuit, engulfing one 
portion of the insurgents in the ravines of Malmaison, 
and driving the other toward the city in the wildest con- 
fusion. After entering the city the fugitives described the 
battle as a great success, and the official organ of the 
Commune, in its issue of the 4th April, says : " Gene- 
rals Bergeret and Flourens liave effected their junction. 
They are marching on Versailles. Success is certain." 
And again at 2 p. m. the following official announcement 
was issued : 

" Towards four this morning the columns of General 
Duval and Colonel Flourens made their junction at the 
rond-point of Courbevoie. Just as they had arrived they 
sustained a heavy fire from Mont Valerien. The troops 
sheltered themselves behind walls and houses. Thus pro- 
tected, the commanders were able to organize a movement 
which completely succeeded, and the two columns passed 
the lines and resumed their march on Versailles. General 
Bergeret, who led them on with shouts of ' Vive la Be- 
publique ! ' had two horses killed under him. The fire of 
the Versailles army has not caused us any appreciable loss.'* 

Notwithstanding these official reports, there was an air 
about the conquerors who had returned that did not 
savor strongly of victory. 

At 3 o'clock a courier passed by the Arc de Triomphe 



FATE OF FLOUEENS' COMMAND. 103 

on his way to the Hotel de Ville, announcing to the crowd 
that Flourens had entered Versailles at the head of 40,000 
men — that they had captured one hundred deputies, and 
M. Thiers was a prisoner ! 

Some one suggested that " there were not over 30,000 
men who went out this way." 

'•' Where did he get the men ? " 

" Oh, he has them I " and " General Bergeret fought 
like a tiger. He liad two horses killed under him." 

" Before him you mean," shouted one of the crowd ; " as 
he went out in a yictoria." 

That portion of the advancing column of insurgents 
which had passed Valerien under the command of Flourens 
amounted to 5,000 men. Accelerated considerably in their 
motions by the retreat of the larger portion of their troops, 
they arrived at Eueil, which was guarded by only a small 
post of cavalry, which at once fell back in the direction of 
Versailles. The National Guards spread through the town, 
some occupying the barracks, others entering the wine- 
shops and private houses ; the bread and provision shops 
were requisitioned, the dealers receiving tickets of the Com- 
mune in payment for their wares. Barricades were con- 
structed in the streets and across the \vide avenue in the 
direction of St. Germain ; scouts were thrown out along the 
Seine, and Flourens took up his headquarters near the rail- 
way station. They were, however, suddenly attacked by 
some detachments of mounted gendarmes and regiments 
of the line, and defeated on every side. The barricade in 
the direction of St. Germain, which was armed with two 
pieces of cannon and strongly defended, was captured by 
the gendarmes sword in hand. They took 200 prisoners ; 
among them there were several soldiers — deserters — who 
were at once shot, and the I^ational Guards were con- 
ducted to Versailles as prisoners. 

At 4 o'clock p. M. of this eventful day, as the mounted 



104 THE PARIS COMMUNE. 

gendarmes were searching the Tillage of Chdtou for run- 
away or secreted insurgents, the celebrated Flourens was 
tracked to his hiding-place by some soldiers. On enter- 
ing the room where he had taken refuge, the first gen- 
darme received a bullet in the shoulder, fired from a 
revolver by Flourens. Before he could draw again, an 
ofBcer of gendarmes. Captain Desmerest, ran forward and 
cut the insurgent leader through the skull with a single 
stroke from his sabre. His aide-de-camp Oypriani, a young 
Garibaldian, also received a sword-cut on the thigh, and 
was made prisoner. He was in plain clothes, but wore 
the kepi of a chef-de-bataillon. Flourens was still in 
military dress, but had with him a leather bag containing 
private clothes for the purpose of disguising himself. 

Thus while the Commune at Paris were posting an ac- 
count of the success of this leader, his body was being 
taken to Versailles, where it was deposited in the hospital 
— a melancholy example of universal repiiilicism, cosmo- 
politan revolutions, and misdirected intellect. 



CI-IAPTER V. 



Proclamation of the Marquis de Gallifet — Threat of the CommuTiistB — Imprison- 
ment of Assi— Grade of General abolished — Dombrowski appointed Com- 
mandant of Paris— Attack on Chatillon— Death of General Duval— Decree 
rendering military service obligatory for all men between the ages of nine- 
teen and forty — Pretexts adopted for escape from the city — Eochefort insti- 
gates the demolition of M. Thiers' house — Letter of Garibaldi— Decree relative 
to prisoners— Cluseret's report — Note of Paschal Grousset to the Foreign 
Representatives — Bergeret'a Letter — Capture of Courbevoie by the Ver- 
sailles troops— The bridge of Neuilly taken— Shells fall at the Arc de Tri- 
omphe— Persecution of the Clergy — Imprisonment of the Archbishop of 
Paris— Conflict of the Commune and Central Committee — Bergeret incarcer- 
ated — Despatch of Dombrowski — The fight at Courbevoie — Attack on the 
insurgent outposts at Issy— Account given by General Cluseret— The Com- 
mittee of Conciliation. 



THE sliooting of Dr. Pasquier and some soldiers who 
fell into the hands of the insurgents caused the 
Marquis de Gallifet to issue the following proclamation in 
the village of Chatou : 

"War has been declared by the bands of Paris. Yes- 
terday, the day before, and to-day, they have assassinated 
my soldiers. 

" It is a war without truce or pity that I declare against 
these murderers. I have had to make an example this 
morning ; may it be a salutary one ! I do not desire to 
be again reduced to such an extremity. 

" Do not forget that the country, the law, and right are 
at Versailles and in the Assembly, and not with the gro- 
tesque body at Paris which calls itself the Commune. 

" GrALLIFET, 

" General of Brigade." 



106 THE PAEIS COMMUKE. 

This proclamation was made known to the inhabitants 
of Chdtou by the public crier, who, after each beat of the 
drum, added; . 

" The President of the Municipal Committee of Chatou 
warns the inhabitants in the interest of their own safety, 
that those who offer an asylum to the enemies of the Re- 
public will render themselves subject to the laws of war. 

" Laijbeuf, 

" President," 

None of the three columns had been successful. The 
sortie en masse had failed ; a few thousand insurgents had 
reached Versailles, but in a character totally different from 
that in which they had hoped to arrive. Compared with 
the number of troops engaged, the losses in killed and 
wounded were small ; but it was the commencement of 
a furious strife, and one of the most inauspicious and 
saddest days in the history of France — the beginning of 
fearful civil war, brother literally fighting against brother; 
and well might the poor old lady of Neuilly say, " Thank 
God my poor boy was killed by the Prussians; this 
would have been too dreadful." Still the Commune, in- 
stead of stopping this bloodshed at the beginning, stimu- 
lated its adherents by reports of success or of deeds of 
murder and retaliation supposed to have been committed 
by the Versaillists. 

The official journal of the Commune, published the 7th 
of April, contains the following : 

" CiTiZEif s : — The Journal Officiel of Versailles contains 
the following : ' Some men recognized as belonging to the 
army and seized with arms in their hands, have been shot, 
in accordance with the rigor of military law which con- 
demns to death all soldiers fighting against their flag.' 

"That horrible avowal requires no commentary, and 



CLIJSERET DELEGATE OP WAR. 107 

each word of it cries loudly for justice and vengeance, 
which will not be delayed. The violence of our enemies 
proves their weakness. They murder whilst the Republi- 
cans combat. The Republic must conquer ! " 

" The people of Versailles murder the Republican pris- 
oners and mutilate the corpses in a horrible manner, eye 
for eye, and tooth for tooth. The gates of Paris are closed, 
and no one can leave. We have hostages in our hands. 
Let the Commune issue a decree, and let its men act. 
For every head of a patriot which falls under the hands 
of the Versailles authorities, let that of a Bonapartist, 
Orleanist, or Legitimist of Paris roll in the dust as a re- 
ply. Well ! So be it. The Assembly wills it. A reign 
of terror ! " 

In the mean time Citizen Assi, the late President of the 
Central Committee, had been committed to prison for 
having made a speech at one of the sittings of the Com- 
mune, in which he declared that that body was going be- 
yond its legal powers, and that it had no right to march 
on Versailles ; that they should not give way too much to 
the ignorant masses, and that the better class of men were 
becoming alienated, instead of converted by their decrees. 
For this intemperate speech he was quietly placed in 
prison, where he remained several days before it was 
known outside the Commune. General Cluseret's star 
was now in the ascendant, and, as delegate of war, he 
covered the walls of Paris Avith decrees emanating from 
the War Department. He issued an address to the Na- 
tional Guards, in which he blamed the increasing use of 
gold bands, stripes, etc., on their uniform ; pointed out to 
them, that as working men, who have accomplished a 
great revolution, they should not blush for their origin ; 
the movement had been made in the name of virtue 
against vice, of duty against abuse, of honesty against 
corruption, and had triumphed for that very reason, and 



108 THE PA II IS COMMUNE. 

concluded by announcing that any officer who added em- 
bellishments to the regulation dress, should be sent before 
a council of discipline. He also issued the following 
decree : 

" Considering that the grade of General is incompatible 
with the democratic organization of the National Guard, 
and can only be temporary, the members of the Commune 
decree as follows : 

" Art. 1. The rank of General is suppressed. 

"Art. 2. Citizen Ladislas Dombrowski, commandant 
of the 12th legion, is appointed commander of the gar- 
rison of Paris, in the place of Citizen Bergeret, summoned 
to other functions." 

On the 4th of April, the day following the combined 
moyement for the capture of Versailles, numerous fresh 
battalions were sent out to reinforce those which had 
been dispersed by the panic, and the struggle recom- 
menced, but without being more fortunate. Notwith- 
standing an obstinate resistance, the insurgents were 
obliged to give way in every direction. 

Fourteen pieces of cannon placed in battery at Issy, 
and protected by earthworks thrown up during the night, 
opened fire iipon the heights of Chatillon, and v/ere an- 
swered by a strong battery on the terrace of Meudon. At 
four in the afternoon considerable reinforcements having 
arrived from Belleville, a strong attack was made on 
Chatillon, but unsuccessfully. The fort of Vanyes kept 
up a vigorous fire during the rest of the day. Towards 
night the insurgents brought in a mitrailleuse, which they 
had captured, but left 250 men in the hands of the Ver- 
sailles troops, in addition to the commandants of the 
127th and 104th battalions. Their loss in killed was 
about one hundred. 

No other military operations took place with the ex- 
ception of those on the side of Clamart and Meudon. 



RESULT OF THE THREE DAYS. 109 

Tlio Versailles troops confined themselves to a defensive 
attitude, having had no intention at this time to marcli 
on Paris. They were satisfied at stopping the offensive 
movement of the battalions of the Commune, "vvhich had 
attempted in every direction to force a passage to Ver-' 
sailles. 

The fire on Chatillon having produced but little effect, 
the Communist generals adopted another plan, namely, to 
turn the position by Clamart and Bagneux, instead of 
attacking in front ; but this movement also failed, as at 
night the regular troops still held the strong positions of 
Chatillon and Meudon, which kept np during the day a 
continuous artillery fire on the forts of Vanves and Issy. 
Thus the march on Versailles proved a complete failure, 
as, after three days' fighting, the troops of the insurgents 
were thrown back on Paris, and the regular army held 
the three positions which commanded the road to Ver- 
sailles, viz., Mont Valerien, the Chateau of Meudon, and 
the plateau of Chatillon. Of the three columns of attack, 
the first directed on Eueil by Mont Valerien, was dis- 
persed on the first day ; the other two, sent by Chatillon 
and Sevre^^ were effectually checked on the two following 
days. 

General Duval was killed the first day at Chatillon, and 
his colleague. General Henry, captured and sent to Ver- 
sailles. The Versailles journals spoke very highly of the 
heroic manner of the former's death. 

About this time the great desire in life among the 
better class of young and middle-aged men was to get out 
of the city, produced by the following proclamation of 
General Cluseret: 

" Considering the patriotic reclamations of a large num- 
ber of ISTational Guards who are anxious, although married, 
to share in the honor of defending their municipal inde- 



110 THE PARIS COMMU^STE. 

pendence, even at the price of their life, the decree of the 
5 th instant is modified thus : 

" From the age of seventeen to nineteen service in the 
war companies will be voluntary; and from nineteen to 
forty obligatory for the National Guards, married or not. 

"I urge all good patriots to themselves perform the 
police of their quarters, and to force the disobedient to 
serve. G. Cluseeet, 

" Delegate to the War Office." 

This continual menace of an armed requisition was to 
all men of a certain age a veritable punishment. The 
Octroi gates and railway stations were held by the in- 
surgents, and every sort of ruse was invented to escape 
this danger or vexation — the most common one, until 
discovered, was that of hiring a fiacre with an old driver, 
changing clothes and putting the coachman inside, then 
changing back when outside the walls. Another — still 
more ridiculous — was that of buying a return ticket at 
the station. The stupid blockheads sometimes at the 
door thought one would never buy a return ticket unless 
he intended coming back ! 

The poet Bergerat passed through the gate in a charcoal 
cask. 

The Belgium and Swiss legations were invaded by 
young men with all their papers in order, showing they 
were citizens of those countries. As for our own legation, 
it was next to an impossibility to catch a glimpse of Mr. 
Washburne. His doors were always surrounded by a 
crowd of from five hundred to a thousand Alsatians or 
Lorrainians. The German authorities having claimed these 
provinces, the officer in command of the Prussian forces 
at St. Denis had notified the Commune that these citizens 
must be exempt from all military service; and it was 
truly surprising .what a number of young men spoke 



INFLAMMATORY ARTICLES. Ill 

French with an accent peculiar to the borders of the 
Rhine. 

The insurgents now commenced making requisitions 
upon different schools and theological institutions. Among 
others, they entered the establishment of the Jesuits in 
the Eue Lhomond, and placed all the fathers under arrest. 
They then searched the house from top to bottom, break- 
ing the furniture and sacking the cupboards ; and finally 
descended to the cellars, where they gorged themselves 
with wine destined for the use of the estabhshment. 
They then carried off the Superior and seven others to the 
Prefecture of Police in an omnibus requisitioned for the 
purpose. Similar outrages were also committed amongst 
tlie fathers of the Saint-Esprit and the Dominicans, who 
were also taken to prison. 

These and similar acts of plunder were the result of 
Eochefort's articles in the 2Iot cV Ordre, which, abandoning 
the comparative moderation which it had lately observed, 
now stimulated to pillage in every number which it issued, 
at one time saying : 

" M. Thiers possesses in the Place St. George a marvelous 
hotel, full of works of art of all sorts. M. Picard possesses 
in the streets of Paris, which he has deserted, three houses, 
which bring him in a large income ; and M. Jules Favre 
occupies in the Rue d' Amsterdam a sumptuous habitation, 
belonging to him. What would these statesmen pro- 
prietors say if, to their destruction outside, the people were 
to respond by the blows of a pickaxe ; and if each time a 
house at Courbevoie was touched by a shell a wall was to 
be knocked down of the palace in the Place St. George, or 
the hotel in the Rue d' Amsterdam ?" 

It was only necessary in moments like those, to indicate 
certain proceedings to an excitable people, to produce the 
most deplorable consequences. 



113 THE PARIS COMMUNE. 

The Central Committee received a letter from Garibaldi 
thanking the members for the honor done him in offering 
him the command of the army of Paris, but declining the 
proffered post. In his letter he pointed out that a Com- 
mander of the National Guard, a General-in-Chief of the 
forces, and a Directing Committee, as they existed, were 
incompatible with the present situation of France ; the 
advantage possessed by despotism was the concentration of 
power ; and in a crisis like the existing one, a similar central- 
ization should be opposed to the enemies of the Republic. 
He recommended them to choose a citizen such as Victor 
Hugo, Louis Blanc, Felix Pyat, Edgar Quinet, or some 
other of the democratic leaders — or even Generals Cremer 
or Billot, who appear to possess the confidence of the 
people ; and to place the supreme power in a single hand. 
He added, that if France had the good fortune to find a 
Washington, she would speedily rise greater than ever. 

The ofiicial organ of the insurgents published the fol- 
lowing proclamation : 

" Whereas the Government of Versailles is openly tram- 
pling under foot the rights of humanity and the laws of 
war, and has been guilty of atrocities such as have not 
even been perpetrated by the foreign invader, the Com- 
mune decrees as follows : 

"Art. 1. All persons charged with complicity with the 
Government of Versailles shall be incarcerated. 

"Art. 2. They shall be deferred within twenty-four 
hours to a jury of accusation. 

"Art. 3. The jury shall give its judgment within 
twenty-four hours. * 

" Art. 4. All accused retained in custody by the ver- 
dict of the jury will be made the hostages of the people 
of Paris. 

" Art. 5. The execution of a prisoner of war or of a par- 



DECREE FROM DELEGATE OF WAR. . 113 

tisan of the regular Government of the Commune shall 
be followed by that of a triple number of the hostages. 

"Art. 6. Every prisoner of war shall be sent before a 
jury of accusation, which shall decide whether he is to be 
set at liberty or kept as a hostage." 

The Delegate of War also published the following 
report, addressed to the members of the Executive Com- 
mission : 

" CiTiZEisrs : Since my entrance into the Department 
of War, I have sought to render an exact account of the 
military situation, the cause of the aggression, which 
nothing can justify, and its results. 

" The motive seems to be, in the first place, to frighten 
the population ; in the second, to cause iis needlessly to 
waste our ammunition, and to mask a movement on the 
right for the purpose of occupying the forts on that side 
of the river. 

"Up to this day, the culpable hopes of the enemy have 
been frustrated, and his attempts repulsed. 

" The population has remained calm and dignified, and 
if our munitions have been wasted by some of our young- 
est soldiers, they acquire each day, in the practice of firing, 
the coolness and steadiness indispensable in war. 

" As to the third it will depend more upon the Prussians 
than upon us ; however we shall be on our guard. 

" The active point of view may be summed up as fol- 
lows: Excellent soldiers, with officers— some very good, 
others very bad. Much dash, but little firmness. When 
the war companies are formed, and separated from the 
sedentary element, we shall have a select body of troops 
of more than 100,000 men. I cannot too much recom- 
mend the ISTational Guards to direct all their attention to 
the choice of their chiefs. At present, the respective po- 
sitions of the two armies may be thus described : The 
Prussians of Versailles occupy the positions of their con- 



114 THE PARIS COMMUNE. 

geners from beyond the Ehine. We hold the trenches, 
Molineaux, and the Clamart railway station. In fine, our 
position is that of men who, strong in their rights, await 
patiently for the attack, contented with defending them- 
selves. In concluding, Citizens, I believe that if our 
troops preserve their coolness and husband their ammu- 
nition, the enemy will be tired out before we are. There 
will then only remain, of this mad and criminal attempt, 
the widows and the orjjhans, the recollection of an atro- 
cious action, witii the contempt which it involves. 

GrE]S"ERAL E. ClUSEEET, 

"The Delegate of War." 

The following note was addressed to the representatives 
of the foreign powers then in Paris by the Citizen Paschal 
Grousset, member of the Commune and Delegate of Ex- 
terior Eelations: 

"Paeis, April 5, 18T1. 

" The undersigned Member of the Commune of Paris 
and Delegate for Foreign Eelations, has the honor to no- 
tify you officially of the constitution of the Communal 
Government of Paris. He begs you to inform your Gov- 
ernment of it, and takes this opportunity of expressing 
the desire of the Commune to draw closer the ties of fra- 
ternity which unite the people of Paris to the 

nation. 

"Accept, &c., &c., 

" Paschal Geoijsset." 

It has been thoroughly demonstrated that the illusions 
fostered by the portion of the Paris population which 
supported the Commune were vain. That body could do 
nothing against Versailles. Such was the truth. Never- 
theless, the struggle still continued, and the army of Ver- 
sailles, remaining on the defensive, Paris, as every one 
knew, could only subsist materially by commerce and 
manufactures. The city not producing any objects of 




PASCHAL GROUSSET 
CommuRe of Pans 
1871 



RESOURCES OF PARIS. 115 

consumptiou was obliged to draw them from without, and 
to furnish in exchange the produce of its own handicraft. 
But Paris could neither work nor barter; so that com- 
merce and industry were both at a stand-still. 

Paris, already more than half exhausted by five months 
of blockade, subsisted only by expending the relics of its 
savings. Every day that passed constituted a dead loss 
for the city, and involved the destruction of a capital 
which was not replaced. The most sanguine of the par- 
tisans of the Commune could not contradict it when it 
was affirmed, that the prolongation of the situation dis- 
carded absolutely all hope of a resumption of labor. To- 
tal ruin and famine was therefore at the end. Against 
this fatal consummation it was useless to contend. If 
Paris was not subjected to the material blockade of the 
siege, the reason was, that the Government of Versailles 
did not choose to have recourse to that extremity. An 
order would have sufficed to stop the arrival of all pro- 
visions. The military impotence of the Commune re- 
duced Paris to subsisting only at the good pleasure of 
Versailles. - . 

Early on the morning of the 7th of April, Mont Vale- 
rien awoke the inhabitants of Paris with its thunder, and 
crowds rushed towards the Arc de Triomphe, from which 
spot the fort was visible. The National Guards who had 
supported the Commune had been continually worsted by 
the regular troops. The latter had gradually advanced, 
and had, during the last twenty-four hours, gained some 
decided advantages, particularly at Courbevoie and Neuilly, 
both in a direct line with the Champs Elysees, and both 
distinctly visible from the Arc de Triomphe. It was evi- 
dent that no defeat was anticipated by the Commune in 
that quarter, as, on the preceeding day, the General com- 
manding the troops in Paris addressed the following letter 
to the Executive Committee: 



116 THE PARIS COMMUNE. 

" Deae Citizens :^The fears of certain persons are 
exaggerated. I am aware that our brave National Guard 
requires a new organization ; but the situation of our be- 
loved Paris is excellent ; our forts are provided with am- 
munition, and valiantly resist the insensate and criminal 
attacks of the men I am ashamed to call the French of 
Versailles. As for Neuilly, the great aim of our adver- 
saries, I have fortified it formidably, and I defy any army 
to take it. I have placed there a firm and intelligent 
man, Citizen Bourgoin ; he maintains there with a firm 
hand the flag of the Commune, and no one will come and 
tear it from him. Therefore, dear citizens, let us organize 
our battalions in the calm and vigilant security of oiir 
strength, and leave to time — a few days only — the task of 
showing to our enemies their weakness and our force. 

"Jules Bergeeet." 

It will be seen, however, that Bergeret was laboring 
under a most erroneous idea of the strength of the posi- 
tion. 

The village of Courbevoie had been confided to four 
battalions, numbering about 2,500 men, whilst two others 
occupied the houses in the Avenue of Neuilly. The Na- 
tional Guards were stationed on the demi-lune, at the 
head of the avenue, with their arms piled, when suddenly 
a detachment of regular troops appeared, and Valerien 
commenced to throw grape-shot into the place, which 
was precipitately evacuated by tlie insurgents. 

The holders of the village were without cannon, and 
had no serious defensive works, and, as usual, at the mo- 
ment of combat, were without orders and without a chief 
The companies soon rallied in the adjoining avenue and 
fell back slowly, sheltering themselves as well as they 
could behind the trees, and firing on the Versailles forces 
as the latter arrived on the plateau. When these last had 



NEUILLY ABANDONED. 117 

taken up their position, Mont Valerien ceased firing, but 
the cannon and mitrailleuse supplied its place. 

The insurgents then tried to protect themselves behind 
the barricade at the end of the bridge, but ineffectually, 
as that construction, badly put together, and made up of 
timber and paving-stones, could not resist cannon-balls, 
and was speedily demolished. At that moment the men 
of the Commune experienced their severest losses, the 
mitrailleuses making fearful havoc in their ranks, and a 
moment of indescribable confusion ensued. Several pieces 
of cannon had stood for a long time behind ths bridge, 
but could not be used, as the road was encumbered v/ith 
fugitives. At last some artillery-men arrived to remove 
the pieces, but a shell, dropping in their midst, killing and 
wounding large numbers, they were compelled to drag 
their guns into the side-streets. 

The insurgents being obliged to abandon the bridge, 
took refuge in the houses, and continued to fire on the 
soldiers who had adopted a similar measure on the other 
side of the river. Eight pieces on the ramparts around 
the Porte Maillot (the gate of the barricade connecting 
the Avenue de la Grande Armee Avith the Avenue Neuilly) 
then commenced to shell the Avenue I^Teuilly, and for a 
long time prevented the troops from reconstructing the 
barricade. Gradually the insurgents abandoned the com- 
bat, and some companies re-entered Paris. At five o'clock 
the fusillade recommenced, the soldiers issuing in force 
from the houses, and, covered by the fire from the demi- 
lune, restored the barricade, and established themselves 
behind it, though not without considerable loss. 

At the close of the day, Neuilly was completely aban- 
doned by the National Guards. Colonel Bourgoin, who 
was intrusted with the defence of the barricade by Berge- 
ret, died bravely fighting behind it. This officer was 
formerly an aide-de-camp to Flourens, when he was fight- 
ing the Turks in the Cretean insurrection. 



118 THE PAEIS COMMUNE. 

During the afternoon, while the combat was taking 
place at the bridge of Neuilly, all the space between the 
Ai'c de Triomphe to within a short distance of the Mail- 
lot gate was filled with a crowd of men, women, and chil- 
dren, probably ten thousand people, all looking at the 
fight with the greatest anxiety. Telescopes, field-glasses, 
tables, chairs, and benclies, were for hire, as for fireworks, 
or at public fetes. The gratification of this feeling of 
curiosity was not, however, accomplished without some 
risk. During the afternoon a shell burst in the Avenue 
de la Grande Armee, which caused a considerable scatter- 
ing of the crowd, but they all returned. Another burst 
within three hundred yards of the Arc de Triomphe, and 
prudent persons were thinking it advisable to leave, wlien 
suddenly an immense ohus came screeching through the 
air, and passing five feet above the heads of the immense 
mass, exploded with a fearful noise on the Arc de Tri- 
omphe. Five feet lower, and there would have been five 
hundred victims. One-half of the crowd fell on their 
faces, another portion fell long after the explosion, when 
all danger was over, and the remainder made a rush for 
the side-streets. Men on horseback, cabs, and carts, pub- 
lic and private conveyances, every thing that was left 
standing, started over the fallen masses, and in an instant 
sabots, canes, umbrellas, and cloaks were the only things 
visible on the avenue. The Prussian bombardment had 
taught the Parisians that the danger from shells is les- 
sened three-quarters by falling on the face as a shell ar- 
rives ; but many forget until all danger is over, and then 
it appears most ridiculous to see them drop. The ex- 
perience is one of which it is to be hoped few readers will 
ever be compelled to avail themselves. A battery placed 
at two and a half miles distant, as was Valerien from the 
Arc de Triomphe, may be seen to fire some twenty seconds 
before the sound arrives, and there is an interim of four 



PERSECUTIOK OF THE CLERGY. 119 

or five seconds between the sound and the arrival of the 
shell, giving one plenty of time to dodge ; but it is neces- 
sary that both eyes and ears be kept wide open. 

The shells fell for some time in quick succession in 
the vicinity of the Arc de Triomphe, Avenue de I'lmper- 
atrice, and Champs Elysees, killing and wounding great 
numbers. 

A belt of insurgents was stationed midway up the 
Champs Elysees to prevent the people from advancing, 
and it was necessary to make a long detour to arrive at 
the Arc de Triomphe. Numerous battalions of insur- 
gents were encamped on the Champs Elysees. 

During the following day the regular troops continued to 
strengthen their positions outside the fortifications on the 
west of the city. On the soutliAvest the forts of Vanves 
and Issy continued to send shells on the plateau of Cha- 
tillon, which did not reply. The insurgents, thinking 
they had dismounted the guns of the regular troops, were 
on the point of making an attack, when a sharp fusillade 
was heard in the direction of the viaduct ; in an instant 
after the Versailles outposts had passed Le Val and dis- 
lodged the insurgents from the slope nearest Issy. 

A veritable persecution had now commenced against 
the churches and clergy of Paris by order of the Com- 
mune. Monseigneur Darboy, the Archbishop of Paris; 
M. Deguerry, cure of the Madeleine, the cure of Nbtre- 
Dame-des-Victoires, the cure of Saint Severin, the cure 
of Saint Eustache, and a number of other respectable 
ecclesiastics in Paris, were all arrested, the object being to 
hold them as hostages. The Archbishop's sister was also 
arrested, and the following notice stuck up in many of 
the churches: "Boutique d hue"—" This shop to let." 
Not only was the wealth of the different churches declared 
the property of the Commune, but also the private prop- 
erty of the clergy was confiscated, and no ecclesiastic 



120 THE PAKIS COMMUHE. 

could consider himself safe from the unjustifiable violence 
of the Commune. It was rumored that one million 
francs were demanded as ransom from the Archbishop. 

A serious conflict had arisen between the Central Com- 
mittee and the Commune, in consequence of the attempt 
of the former to seize the Hotel de Ville, also on account 
of conflicting authority in the War Department. On the 
night of the 7th of April several orders of General Clus- 
eret's (Delegate of War) had not been executed by the 
staff; and General Bergeret, substituting his authority 
for that of his colleague, had sent to the battalions orders 
so different from those which he had received, that there 
was much confusion in the military operations. In the 
morning Bergeret was replaced by General Dombrowski, 
a Polish citizen formerly an officer in the Russian service, 
and the ex-commander was sent for by General Cluseret, 
who addressed to him such violent reproaches that the 
interview soon degenerated into a sharp dispute. Citizen 
Bergeret then raising his voice, told General Cluseret that 
he (the speaker), a Frenchman and a patriot, could not 
consent to obey a man who had fought in America for the 
cause of slavery against liberty, and who had repudiated 
his quality of Frenchman to become a citizen of another 
country. — Bergeret was in error as to the side on which 
Cluseret fought during the American civil wai', the error 
at that time being very prevalent in Paris. He fought on 
the Northern side, and was for some time attached to the 
staff of General Fremont. Bergeret "was immediately 
arrested and thrown into prison, and the Polish exile or 
convict was appointed to his place. It was said that the 
new commander, Dombrowski, was much feared by the 
Eussian authorities. He had been transported to Siberia 
and escaped, after having traversed all Eussia at the peril 
of his life, arriving in France in 1865. 

A despatch from the new commandant, Dombrowski, 



LOSSES AT THE NEUILLY 33EIDGE. 121 

was received on the morning of the 10th of April, an- 
nouncing that his men had occupied Asnieres and that 
the enemy was in flight, adding that his own loss was 
small, the enemy's great. This was followed by the fol- 
lowing announcement : 

" April 10. 

"The troops have definitely installed themselves in 
their positions at Asnieres. Iron-plated wagons are com- 
mencing their operations, and by their movement on the 
lines of Versailles and Saint-G-ermain, cover that between 
Colombes, Garennes, and Courbevoie. 

" Our posts at Villiers and Levallois have advanced, 
and we are in possession of the whole of the northeast 
part of Neuilly. I have executed with my whole staff a 
reconnaissance by Levallois, Villiers, and IsTeuilly, as far 
as the Eond-point of the Boulevard du Eoule, returning 
by the gate of the Ternes. The situation at the Porte- 
Maillot is much improved, in consequence of the diminu- 
tion of the bombardment during the night. 

" "We have been able to repair the damage caused by 
the enemy's fire, and we have begun the construction of 
fresh batteries in front of the gate in question. 

"Perfect order prevailed during the night at all the 
posts; and the rumors about the abandonment of the 
different positions are only inventions of the reaction, 
devised for the purpose of demoralizing the population. 

" DOMBROWSEI." 

According to the Mot d'Ordre, Eochefort's paper, the 
losses of insurgents at Neuilly bridge amounted to 225 
killed and 435 wounded, although officially the insurgents 
announce only a few wounded, and instead of a defeat a 
very decided victory. It was easy to be seen from many 
points in the vicinity of the Arc de Triomphe that the 
6 



133 THE PARIS COMMUl^E. 

Oommunists had met with a decided defeat, and the fol- • 
lowing correspondence from the Versailles army Yerifies 
the yiew as seen from Paris : 

" At none of the encounters between the Prussians and 
the French around Paris did I see more seyere fighting 
than on Friday eyening at the Courbeyoie end of the 
bridge of Neuilly. There was one barricade there and 
another on the middle of the bridge ; it had been resolyed 
to carry those barricades on Friday, with the yiew of 
opening a way to Paris by the Ayenue de l^euilly. The 
diyision of General Montaudon was marched to Courbe- 
yoie for the purpose, and that General directed the moye- 
ments. Generals Pechot and Besson were also on the 
ground. I saw the action from the glacis of Yal6rien. 
At 3 o'clock the enemy opened fire, Valerien throwing 14 
and 38 pound shells from 7 and 14 pound guns against 
Porte Maillot and the insurgents' batteries on the ram- 
parts close to that gate. At the same moment the fire 
of eight 7-pounders and of four 13-pounders was directed 
on the tete de pont at the right bank of the riyer from the 
Courbeyoie road and open space to the left, and the can- 
non and mitrailleuses of Montaudon's diyision enfiladed 
the avenue leading down to the enceinte. 

" The insurgents vigorously replied with heayy guns 
from Porte Maillot and the ramparts, and with a mitrail- 
leuse battery on the banks of the riyer close to the island. 
The troops possessed themselves of the houses at the 
angles of Puteaux and Courbeyoie, and from these, at 
half-past three, commenced a chassepot fire on the in- 
surgents. Dreadful was the thunder of artillery, the 
running scream of mitrailleuses, and the shrill whizzing 
of chassepots for a quarter of an hour ; the whole of the 
region of Courbeyoie and Neuilly was enveloped in a 
smoke so thick that one could see the fire blaze from the 



THE VERSAILLES ACCOUNT. 123 

cannon's mouth and from exploding shells as if it had 
been night. Insurgents were seen collecting in the Bois 
de Boulogne. Valerien shelled them, hut they got under 
cover. 

" Troops entered the wood and gave them chase ; they 
ran across towards the Porte Maillot. The JSTational 
Guards there fired, and so stopped the pursuit, but the 
shots from the fort brought down friends and foes alike. 
When the terrific din had somewhat abated, and the 
smoke partially cleared away, I saw a body of troops, each 
furnished with a sand-bag, approach the barricade at the 
end of the bridge. The insurgents had retreated to the 
second barricade. Putting the sand-bags on the top of 
the barricade, the infantry crouched behind it and fired 
volley after volley along the bridge, while Valerien and all 
the military batteries kept sweeping the avenue. In half 
an hour the troops were on the bridge. A column of 
them was marched over it, and proceeded to occupy the 
houses at St. James on the right and at Neuilly on the 
left. A caisson left by the insurgents on the bridge ex- 
ploded and killed G-eneral Besson on the spot. The firing 
of artillery was still very hot ; but at four o'clock the fusil- 
lade had ceased near the bridge. 

" General Pechot was found to be badly wounded. He 
died in the Press Ambulance a short time after he was 
carried in there. It was nearly six o'clock when the 
artillery fire slackened, and the struggle came to a con- 
clusion for the day. Just then two rifled 24-pounders 
arrived at Valerien, and were at once placed in position. 

"During the fight no fewer than twenty-one officers 
were killed or wounded on the Government side. The 
bridge and the entrance of the Avenue were strewn with 
dead and wounded insurgents. At eleven at night the 
division of General Grenier was marched out from Ver- 
sailles to supply the place of the division of General 



134 THE PARIS COMMUTE. 

Montaudon, who had been wounded. By some bad 
management, the insurgents were allowed to regain pos- 
session of a barricade on the Neuilly side, but they were 
driven from it again yesterday morning. It was reported 
that Porte Maillot was to be taken. I was near tlie 
ground from morning till night, but no attempt at storm- 
ing the insurgent position was made. The artillery com- 
bat was renewed early and continued till dark, and the 
troops succeeded in occupying the houses in the Avenue 
de ISTeuilly as far as the church ; but the infantry opera- 
tions were confined to firing from windows and from behind 
walls. The batteries at Porte Maillot and close to the 
ramparts on the right of the gate shelled Courbevoie and 
the other positions of the troops. Valerien, with 48-pound 
shells, kept up a constant fire on Porte Maillot and its 
redoubts, and the field batteries of the Grenier Division 
swept the Avenue up to the Arc de Triomphe. One shell 
struck the Arc itself. On both sides hundreds of spec- 
tators were out to witness the performance. I saw a large 
body of l!^ational Guards prepare to march down from the 
Arc de Triomphe at about four o'clock. They were 
arrested by the shelling of the troops." 

The following morning a warm fusillade took place in 
the Bois de Boulogne, and soon extended along the river 
to Clichy and Asnieres. Mont Valerien continued to 
throw shells from time to time into the wood, and in the 
direction of the Bois de Colombes and Gennevilliers. The 
guns on the rampart kept up a continual fire on Cour- 
bevoie and the bridge at Neuilly. The insurgents were 
busily occupied in fortifying Asnieres, which place seemed 
likely to become the base of future operations. The gate 
of the fortifications in that direction was open, and vehicles 
laden with ammunition and stores were passing out. The 
villages of Levallois and Champerret were strongly occu- 



A ITIGHT ATTACK. 125 

pied by National Guards. To the south of Paris the Ver- 
sailles troops had opened a murderous fire from the plateau 
of Chatillon, which had remained entirely silent for two 
days. They had profited by the leisure allowed them by 
the forts of Vanves and Issy to place naval guns in the 
works established by the Prussians. The first battery 
unmasked was on the right of the Moulin, and fired on 
what remained of the barracks of Vanves. The insurgents 
were obliged to retire to the casemates. Later in the day 
the fusillade commenced from the advanced posts, and 
the mitrailleuses were heard resounding in the woods of 
Clamart. The action extended to Montrouge and Bag- 
neux and the left, whence the insurgents were seen re- 
treating. They soon halted, however, Cluseret having 
sent large reinforcements to their aid. There seemed to 
be a mutual lull on both sides, but soon after dark there 
suddenly broke out a furious discharge of musketry, 
cannon, and mitrailleuses, such as had not been heard 
even during the siege by the Prussians. For nearly two 
hours the peals succeeded each other at intervals of only 
a few seconds ; and as the clouds were dark and low, the 
sky was lit up each moment with flashes of light like 
summer lightning. A serious attack had been made by 
the Versailles troops on the insurgent outposts before 
Issy. Some battalions were surprised, and were obliged 
to retreat precipitately behind the forts. In the meantime 
a severe contest ensued between the outposts of both 
parties. After a desperate struggle in the village of Issy, 
all* the approaches to which were barricaded or pierced for 
musketry, the insurgents fell back under cover of the 
forts, which kept up a strong fire to protect their retreat. 
The mitrailleuses, with which the barricades were armed, 
also opened fire on two strong columns of troops which 
were marching on Issy. 
A despatch from the Commander Dombrowski, received 



126 THE PAEIS COMMTJKE. 

during the action, stated that the situation presented no 
gravity; that Paris could preserve its confidence; that 
the attack of the Versailles forces, which had heen ex- 
pected for two days, would not succeed. 

A despatch from the commander of Fort Issy, dated one 
o'clock, April 13th, states that the Versailles troops made 
three successive attacks, but were repulsed with heavy 
loss. The plateau of Chatillon, he wrote, was covered 
with dead which the enemy could not remove. A similar 
report was also sent from Fort Vanves. There the troops 
appear to have attacked the insurgents in the trenches. 
General Cluseret, Delegate of War, issued the following 
official report of the engagement on the evening of 
the nth: 

" The enemy, profiting by the obscurity of the night, 
unmasked all his batteries, and attempted a violent attack 
on the gates of the southwest, but was repulsed with dis- 
grace. Our losses are two wounded and one killed (there 
were seldom more than that number killed in any action, 
according to the Commune) as far as is known at present. 
In this nocturnal assault — an operation always difficult to 
be repelled by very young troops — there was not a moment 
of hesitation, and the Enfants de Paris behaved most 
bravely. I mention in the order of the day the 208th and 
179th battalions on account of their ardor." 

The official Journal of the Commune, commenting on 
the attack, says : 

" The cannonade of Monday evening against the forts 
of the south was as useless as it was furious. The attack 
was vigorously repulsed, and the fire of the enemy soon 
ceased. Much noise and little work; but certainly no 
small loss for the assailants. The Ministry of War is of 



A DELEGATIOif TO VERSAILLES. 127 

opinion that this grand demonstration is meant to cover 
a surprise towards the Porte Maillot and ISTeuilly, which 
will not have any better success. We are ready here as 
elsewhere. Versailles is void of troops. The whole royal 
army is said to be under the walls of Paris, which expects 
them with the calmness and confidence of right and force." 

The same organ adds: 

"The attack of Tuesday evening took place between 
the forts of Issy and Van^s. The Versailles troops ad- 
vanced to within a hundred yards of the trench, but they 
were vigorously repulsed, and in their flight sustained 
considerable loss." 

The Commune having accused the Government of Ver- 
sailles of introducing agents into the National Guards for 
the purpose of propagating disorder, published a decree 
instituting a Council of War in each legion, to be com- 
posed of seven members — a president, two officers, two 
sub-officers, and as many privates. A Council of Disci- 
pline was also formed in each battalion, composed of as 
many members as there were companies, nominated by 
election, and revocable on the proposition of the Delegate 
of War. The Council of War could pronounce all pen- 
alties en usage, subject to the ratification of a Court of 
Eevision. 

The Chambers of Commerce of Paris, representing 
nearly eight thousand merchants, manufacturers and tra- 
ders, appointed a delegation to proceed to Versailles and 
endeavor to bring about some amicable settlement of the 
conflict now dividing the insurgents of Paris and the 
legal Government. The bases on which the envoys were 
to endeavor to bring about a reconciliation were these : 

"The maintainancc and affirmation of the Eepublic. 



138 THE PARIS COMMUNE. 

The possession by the city of Paris of the most extended 
municipal liberties, distinct from all action or interference 
from the central power." These delegates state that they 
arrived at Versailles, and placed themselyes in communi- 
cation with a committee of seven members of the Left, in 
conjunction with whom they drew up the following out- 
line of the compromise : 

"The formation of a Committee of Conciliation, the 
functions of which would be to place in communication 
the members of the Government and of the Commune of 
Paris, each preserving entire freedom of action, and to 
seek in that exchange of ideas the means of a pacific solu- 
tion. The course by which that result is to be arrived at 
appears to consist principally in these dispositions : ' The 
acceptance by the city of Paris of the Municipal Bill 
which is about to be voted by the Assembly ; elections in 
Paris in conformity with that law, that is to say, in a few 
days, under the direction of t:ie Committee of Concilia- 
tion ; recognition of the right of the Municipal Council 
thus chosen to submit to the Assembly certain proposi- 
tions relative to the particular conditions of the city of 
Paris, the necessity of which the bill already admits in 
certain respects ; and consequently, in order to facilitate 
the negotiations, the suspension of military operations 
immediately after the acceptance of those preliminaries 
at Paris, without prejudice for the present to the question 
of the arming or organization of the National Guard, 
which subject shall be reserved for the subsequent ex- 
amination of the Municipal Council, and for«fche decision 
of the National Assembly, when the latter body shall have 
under consideration the reconstitution of the armed force 
in France. A general political amnesty ! " The report 
of the delegates then goes on to say : " We waited on M. 
Barth61emy Saint-Hilaire, who manifested the greatest 



Iiq"TERVIEW WITH THIERS. 129 

sympathy with the object of our mission, and procured for 
us an interview with M. Thiers. The Cliief of the Ex- 
ecutive Power, to whom the terms of the powers we had 
received from the Syndical' Chambers had been communi- 
cated, replied very categorically to the two points men- 
tioned above. With respect to the maintenance of the 
Eepublic, he affirmed to us, ' on his honor,' in the clearest 
and most positive language, that never, he living and in 
power, the Eepublic in France should fall ! He reminded 
us that he had already said the same in the Chamber, and 
authorized us to repeat it, in his name, to the persons who 
had sent us and to the public. He added that, notwith- 
standing the personal tendencies of certain individuals or 
groups in the Chamber, 500 deputies at least would sup- 
port him in that orJ.er of ideas ; and that, in fine, the Re- 
public, if it had reason to mistrust the excesses of factions, 
had nothing to fear from the disposition of the Chamber. 
These assurances, which we received with joy, were besides 
on every point in conformity with the confidence testified 
on the previous evening by the deputies of the Left. On 
the second point, that of the municipal liberties of Paris, 
the Chief of the Executive Power declared to us that the 
city could not expect anything more from the Govern- 
ment than the application of the common law, as estab- 
lished by the municipal bill which the Chamber was 
about to vote. On that subject we avoided entering on a 
discussion which could not lead to any result, for we did 
not hope to convert to municipalisfc or federalist ideas 
the well-known centralism of M. Thiers. We, however, 
thought right to communicate to him the note drawn 
up with the deputies of the Left. M. Thiers listened 
attentively to the reading of the paper ; he neither rati- 
fied explicitly any of its dispositions, nor formally con- 
tested any of them; and the explanations exchanged 
on various paragraphs, especially on that relative to the 

6* 



130 THE PAEIS COMMUi^E. 

armistice, left us under this impression — that the terms 
of the note in question might, so far as the executive 
power was concerned, serve as the basis for the ulterior 
discussion of an arrangement." The delegation not pos- 
sessing any authority to treat further, thought fit to return 
to Paris and report progress. 



CHAPTER VI. 



M. Jules Pavre at Prussian headquarters— Letter of Paschal Gronsset to the 
Prussian Commander— Proclamation posted at St. Denis— Sacrilege of the 
Communists — Religious services discontinued — Decree ordering the destruc- 
tion of the Column Vendome— Article in the Mot (T Orc^z-fi— Shells fall far 
into Paris— Eeport of General Cluseret— Battery at Trocadero -Marshal de 
McMahon appointed Commander-in-Chief of the army of Versailles— Forma- 
tion of that army— The army of reserve— Fighting on the 15th— Elections of 
the 16th— Fighting at Asnidres— The Chateau de Bccon carried by the troops 
— The Government accused of procrastination— Deputations to Versailles- 
Address of the Republican League— Programme of the Commune— Severe 
firing on the 19th— Losses of the insurgents— Attack of the insurgents on 
the bridge at Neuilly— Their defeat— Letter from the Archbishop to M. Thiers 
—Damage caused in Paris by shells— Engagement at the bridge of Clichy— 
Explosion of a powder magazine— Convents and nunneries invaded— Athe- 
ism of the Communists— The Executive Committee— Suppression of jour- 
nals— Lisurgent batteries at Lavallois and Clichy— Attack on the Park of 
Neuilly— Proclamation announcing an armistice at Neuilly— Expectation of 
a grand attack— Attack on Levallois by the troops— Repulsed by Dom- 
browskl. 

JULES FAVEE, Minister of Foreign Affairs, 
passed the entire day of the 9th of April with 
General Fabrice in the German headquarters at Eouen. 
The object of his journey was to ascertain for the Govern- 
ment of Versailles the nature of the communications 
recently made by the Commune of Paris to the German 
military authorities at St. Denis, and he at once obtained 
all the information he required. It appeared that on the 
4th of April, Paschal Grousset, acting for the Commune 
as Delegate of Foreign Affairs, sent to the German head- 
quarters at St. Denis a note in these words : 

" The Commune wishes to know at what point have 
arrived the negotiations between Germany and the Gov- 



132 THE PARIS COMMLNE, 

ernnient of Versailles for the execution of the prelimi- 
naries of peace, and in case the latter should have effected 
the payment of a sum of 500 millions of francs, the Com- 
munal delegate delnands the CYacuation by the Prussians 
of the forts on the north side, which are dependencies of 
the territory of Paris." 

This document is a specimen of the stupid arrogance of 
some of the members of the Commune. They did not 
recognize the Versailles Government, but if that Govern- 
ment had paid any portion of the war debt, they wished 
to take advantage of it. 

M. Jules Favre, in communicating to the National As- 
sembly the result of his mission, added that the German 
authorities sent no reply ; and the Minister then, refer- 
ring to the attitude of Prussia relating to the events 
then going on in Paris, declared that the Cabinet at 
Berhn had repeatedly offered its service to the Government 
of Versailles for the re-establishment of order in the 
French capital, but that those overtures had been declined. 

The commander-in-chief of the 3d army corps had the 
following proclamation posted at St. Denis : 

" CoMPiEGNE, April 6, 1871. 

" Art. 1. The state of siege is declared in those parts 
of the departments of the Seine, Seine-et-Oise, Seine-et- 
Marne, and Oise, occupied by the troops of the 3d army. 

" Art. 2. The powers with which the civil authority was 
invested for the maintenance of order and police, are con- 
sequently transferred entirely to German military com- 
manders. The civil authority will, nevertheless, continue 
to exercise those functions of which it has not been de- 
prived by the military governors. 

"Art. 3. The German military tribunals are compe- 
tent to try crimes and offences against the safety of the 
German troops, or against public order, whatever may 



SACRILEGIOUS CONDUCT. 133 

be tlie position of the principal accnsed or their accom- 
plices. 

" Art. 4. The German military authority has the right — 
1. To make perquisitions by day or by night in the dwel- 
lings of the inhabitants ; 2. To remove released conyicts 
and individuals not having a residence in the localities sub- 
ject to a state of siege ; 3. To order the delivery of arms 
and ammunition, and to search for and remove them ; and 
4. To prohibit such publications and meetings as may seem 
to it of a nature to produce or protract disorder. 

" Albert, 

•' Prince Royal of Saxony." 

The disgraceful and sacrilegious conduct of the Commune 
became more and more disgusting to that respectable por- 
tion of the citizens who were compelled to remain in Paris. 
A number of its soldiers went on the morning of the 9th 
of April to the church of Notre-Dame-de-Lorette, and, 
after blocking up the approaches, proceeded to make re- 
quisitions under the pretext of seeking for mitrailleuses. 
They also arrested one of the priests, and seized on the 
papers of the cure. The search lasted several hours, 
during which time some of the party were playing cards 
in the vestry, others proceeded to dress up the figure of 
the Virgin Mary as a vivandiere, w^aile that of Jesus was 
clothed in the uniform of a Versailles soldier, a j)ipe stuck 
in his mouth, and then shot at by the insurgents present. 

All the clergy of Montmartre, including M. Protot, the 
venerable cure of St. Pierre, were also arrested. The mo- 
tives may be seen from the following curious placard, 
posted on the closed doors of the church : 

"April 10,1871. 

" Whereas priests are thieves, and churches are haunts 
where the masses have been morally assassinated in drag- 
ging France under the heels of the scoundrels Bonaparte, 



134 THE PAEIS COMMUNE. 

Favre, and Trocliu, the delegate of Les Carrieres at tlio 
ex-Prefecture of Police orders the church of St. Pierre to 
be closed, and decrees the arrest of the ecclesiastics and 
ignorantins. — Le Moussu." 

Two Commune seals were affixed to the paper. 

One of the venerable fathers was conducted to the ex- 
Prefecture of Police and brought before the citizen dele- 
gate, the notorious atheist, Eaoul Eigault, who demanded 
his name. 

" My children," replied the yenerable man, whose hair 
was whitened with the frost of eighty winters. 

"Citizen," interrupted the delegate Eigault, who was 
not quite thirty years old, " you are not before children, 
but in presence of a magistrate." " What is your pro- 
fession ? " 

" I am a servant of Cod." 

" Where does he live ? " interrogated Eigault. 

"Everywhere," responded the pious old priest, noted 
for his deeds of charity for over half a century. 

" Send this man to the Conciergerie, and issue a war- 
rant for the arrest of his Master, one called Cod, who has 
no permanent residence, and is consequently, contrary to 
law, living in a perpetual state of vagabondage," replied 
the infamous blasphemer. 

The following day the Commune ordered the religious 
service to be discontinued in all the prisons. It also 
ordered the destruction of the Column Vend6me. This 
decree was probably the most remarkable, as well as the 
most dastardly, of all the proclamatiotis of th'ese vandals : 

" Paris, AprU 12, 1871. 

" The CoMMFifE of Paris — Considering that the im- 
perial column in the Place Venddme is a monument of 
barbarism, a symbol of brute force and false glory, an 
affirmation of militarism, a negation of international lav/. 



THE COLUMIT VEN"d6mE, 135 

a permanent insult cast by the victors on the vanquished^ 
a perpetual attack on one of the great principles of the 
French Eepublic Fraternity, decrees the column of the 
Place Vendome shall be demolished. 

This beautiful column took its name from the hotel of 
Duke Vendome, the illegitimate son of Henry IV., which 
formerly stood here. The form of the Place is a perfect 
octagon, 420 by 450 feet. The buildings bordering on the 
Place are very beautiful, and of Corinthian architecture. 
In the centre formerly stood an equestrian statue of Louis 
XIV ; this was demolished by the people during the first 
revolution, the base only being saved. In 1806, the Em- 
peror Napoleon I. gave orders for the erection of a tri- 
umphal monument in honor of the successes of the French 
armies. The column was of the Tuscan order, and copied 
after Trajan's Pillar at Eome. Its height was 135 feet ; 
in circumference at the base, 35 feet; the base was 21 feet 
high and 20 square. The summit was reached by a wind- 
ing staircase of 176 steps. The column was covered with 
bas-reliefs in bronze, composed of 276 plates, made out of 
1200 pieces of cannon taken from the Eussians and Aus- 
trians, representing the victories of the French armies in 
the German campaign of 1805. There were over 2,000 
figures of three feet high, and the metal used weighed 
1,800,000 pounds. The column was surmounted by a col- 
lossal bronze statue of Napoleon I, 11 feet high, in a 
Eoman toga ; this was erected by Napoleon III, in 1863, 
replacing the old familiar statue with the cocked hat and 
military surtout. The Emperor's statue was hurled to the 
ground during the revolution of 1814, but France was not 
satisfied until a finer one was placed upon the summit. 
The whole cost was about 1300,000. 

The Commune did not decide the destruction of the na- 
tional monument without some opposition. A small mi- 



136 THE PARIS COMMUNE. 

nority argued that it was not the moment to waste time 
on such trifling questions* The reasons which preceded 
the text of the decree were also the subject of a long dis- 
cussion. Although monuments commemorative of yicto- 
ries are of a nature to perpetuate insatiable animosities 
between nations, if they are to disappear, the national 
representation of the whole of France ought to order their 
suppression, the whole of France having contributed to 
their erection. 

Paschal Grousset, in his paper, the Vengeur, says: 

"At last that Column Vendome is to be removed — a 
ridiculous and monstrous trophy, erected at the command 
of a blind despot, to perpetuate the remembrance of his 
insensate conquests and his culpable glory — a monument, 
moreover, destitute of all artistic value — a cantata in 
bronze, a daub in metal instead of on canvas — in short, a 
wretched imitation of Trajan's column. Art will lose 
nothing by its destruction ; good sense and patriotism will 
gain. For the fact is injudicious to leave under the eyes 
of the ignorant and the simple the stupid glorification of 
a cursed past. That Column of Vendome . . I have 
never been able to look at it without my heart bounding 
with indignation and disgust. In the time of the Empire 
there was always to be seen hanging on the railings and 
rotting in the rain, innumerable wreaths of a flaunting 
yellow or a dirty white : Souvenir, Eegrets, Gloire, Yictoire. 
Without the sentinel who watched over this rubbish with 
jealous care, one might have taken the place for the tradi- 
tional shop always to be found next door to the marble- 
mason's at the gates of the cemeteries." 

The seizure of the public treasures of the Paris churches 
created an intense excitement, and most of the respectable 
journals which still remained unsuppressed were loud in 
their complaints against Eochefort, a supporter of the 



SEIZURE OF CHURCH PROPERTY. 137 

Commune and editor of tlie 3fot cVOrdre, for having de- 
nounced the treasures, and indicating where different 
sacred vessels were hid away for safety. In his turn he 
rephed that, not only was it proper to make the seizures, 
but he gloried in having been the means of assuring that 
result. His reasoning was characteristic of the men with 
whom he associated at the time — men whose blasphemous 
words and atheistical opinions were far in advance of the 
revolutionists of 1789, and of such a character as to make 
all true Frenchmen weep for their country. His article 
on the subject ran thus : 

"Not only does the Mot cTOrdre refuse to disavow the 
co-operation which it gave for the seizure in question, but 
it declares that if it knew of any other treasure belonging 
to the clergy elsewhere, it would again hasten to inform 
the Commune. Our eternal creed will be, that as Jesus 
Christ was born in a stable, the only treasure that Notre- 
Dame ought to possess is a truss of straw. As to the 
sacred vases studded with emeralds, or the emeralds en- 
riched with finely-chased vessels, we do not hesitate to de- 
clare them national property, from the simple reason that 
they are derived from the generosity of those to whom the 
Church promised Paradise ; and that an assurance of 
imaginary blessings, given to extort money or articles of 
value, is designated in all codes as swindling. "Why is a 
physician interdicted from inheriting from his patient? 
Because the supposition is that he may have been able, by 
the dread of death, to turn the brain of the sick man and 
induce him to put the doctor's name in his will in ex- 
change for the preservation of his life. The priests, and 
the church which enrolls them, are just in the same case. 
"We cannot say how the first Christians understood religion, 
which has been since so strangely revised, corrected, and 
augmented ; but at this hour, and for many centuries past, 



138 THE PARIS COMMUNE. 

it has become the pretext for all sorts of extortions and 
intimidations. Por that reason we infinitely prefer seeing 
the Commune make requisitions on the churches rather 
than on merchants and manufacturers."' 

The Moniteur, of Versailles, made the following com- 
ment on the above article : 

"Where did M. Eocheforfc learn that the crucifixes 
carved by Bouchardon, and the sacred vessels chased by 
the most celebrated artists, were swindled, as he elegantly 
puts it, out of the dying, by working on their fears? 
"When Philippe-le-Bel, after his victory of Mons-en-Puelle, 
Louis XIII, after the glorious combats of Pont-de-Suse, 
Conde, Turenne, and Luxemburg, whom the Parisians 
jaroudly named the Decorator of Notre-Dame, enriched 
our temples with their voluntary offerings, or with stand- 
ards taken from the enemy, was their conduct caused by 
terror or cheating? And if those recollections do not 
touch M. Eochefort, let him at least respect in those works 
of art, so admirably executed, the glory of the artists. 
The handicraftsman has also his glory, often more durable 
than that of conquerors, pretended legislators, and self- 
called politicians ; he transmits it to posterity in the mas- 
terpieces which, if a painter, he has fixed on canvas; if a 
sculptor, he has created from the shapeless block of marble ; 
or, if a goldsmith, he has hammered or chiselled out with 
delight. In the name of industry and its glorious inher- 
itance, respect at least those so-called treasures of the 
churches, which are, in reality, only magnificent works of 
art, and which, at least, unlike those carefully preserved 
in the cabinets of celebrated collectors, are open to all. 
Democrats, respect democratic art, which, perhaps, the 
Christian religion alone has placed at the service of the 
poor as well as of the rich." 



PROGEESS OF THE FIGHTING. 139 

The advantage round tlie walls of Paris, for one or two 
daj^s, was not decidedly with the Versailles troops. Nearly 
all their attacks on the southern forts of Issy, Vanyes and 
Montrouge had been repulsed. On the morning of the 
13th, the engagement became general along the west side 
of Paris. The object of the regular troops was to release, 
by a flank movement, a detachment which had been driven 
on the G-rande Latte, an island in the Seine, between the 
bridges of Asnieres and Neuilly. This was a body of men 
who had recently arrived at Versailles from Breton. At 
the same time a severe encounter of infantry was going 
on in the streets of Neuilly and Levallois; the National 
Guards were obliged to give way, and General Dom- 
browski was under the necessity of sending for reinforce- 
ments. The Avenue de la Grande Armee, and the neigh- 
borhood of the Arc de Triomphe, continued to receive its 
share of projectiles from Mpnt Valerien and from the 
bridge at Neuilly. One shell fell as far down the Champs 
Elysees as the corner of the Eue de Morny, smashing a 
lamp-post and the butt and truck of a water-carrier. It 
fortunately did not burst ; and a group of spectators, who 
were standing near, escaped unhurt. Another shell fell 
in the midst of a battalion of insurgents in Place do 
I'Etoile. The soldiers were on their way to Port Maillot, 
beating drums and wa-\dng several new flags. Seven men 
were killed and twenty wounded with the single shell. 
From that moment spectators were not allowed to go 
nearer the firing than the Eond-Point on the Champs 
Elysees. The fusillade continued during the afternoon, 
but it was difficult, from the ramparts, to form any idea 
of the result of the fighting near the barricade of the 
Pont de Neuilly. Later in the day the engagement ex- 
tended to the left side of the Avenue de Neuilly, which 
district was still occupied by the Versailles troops. 



140 THE PAEIS COMMUNE. 

M. Eossel, chief of the insurgent staff, published the 
following military report : 

"April 13th. 

" The fighting has continued all day at Neuilly. The 
troops of the Commune have preserved an offensive 
attitude, and the town is attacked and defended foot by 
foot. At Asnieres the struggle is less obstinate. 

" On the side of the southern forts, the day has passed 
without any remarkable incident. General Eudes is 
making active dispositions for the night, as the move- 
ments of the enemy seem to presage an attack. Eeinforce- 
ments have been sent to the points already assailed. The 
morale of the troops is excelletit. 

" The progress of organization admits of a gradual 
diminution of the excessive fatigue imposed on the troops." 

General Cluseret's report, the same day, addressed to 
the Commune, says : 

" I return from an inspection of the southern forts, and 
of the general line of defence from Montrouge to La 
Muette, and my impression is most favorable. 

" The attacks of Tuesday and Wednesday, made with a 
great number of men on the enemy's side, were repulsed 
with so much ease and so little loss that they ought to 
inspire an entire confidence in the future. 

" The battery of 24, on the Trocadero, has sent balls 
into the barracks of Mont Valerien. That range was all 
we wished to obtain for the moment. 

" I invite the attention of the Commune to the manly 
aspect of the troops, and the exceptional order prevailing 
at the Point du Jour. Both men and materials are in 
good order, and denote energy, activity, and competence 
on the part of the commander. Van-^s and Montrouge 
are in good condition. On the side of the enemy there is 
the same disposition of artillery as in the time of the 



CLUSERET'S FALSEHOODS. 141 

Prussians. As to their infantry, it is not numerous, and 
witliout mucli consistence. When the critical moment 
arrives, I have every reason to believe that the resistance 
of the Versaillaise will not be found superior to onr efforts." 

General Cluseret in his reports did not deem it neces- 
sary to be controlled in any measure by the facts in ques- 
tion. A proposition had been made in the Commune to 
abolish the French Grammar, leaving to citizens the 
privilege of spelling as they pleased ; also expunging from 
the dictionary such words as king, duke, sir, servant, 
equipage, conscription, etc.; it would have been as well 
to have included truth, veracity, etc. 

The large guns in position on the Trocadero (the 
heights above Passy at the extreme west of the city), and 
pointed at Mont Valerien, commenced firing during the 
afternoon of the 13th. The fort replied feebly; and, not 
being able to discover the exact position of this new 
battery, which was concealed behind the wall of the Passy 
Cemetery, threw a few shells on the neighboring houses. 
A crowd of idlers, who had collected in the rear of this 
battery, immediately dispersed. About half-past four the 
guns there ceased firing, probably because none of the 
shot had reached high enough up the mountain to touch 
the fort at the top. Of the eighteen shells, the flight of 
which was observed, some fell in the Bois de Boulogne, 
one at Suresnes, some in the vineyards at the foot of 
Valerien, and four were not followed by any explosion, 
and probably dropped into the river. The fort, being at 
a higher elevation, had the neighborhood of the Trocadero 
within range, and its projectiles damaged houses in the 
Eues Scheffer, Petrarque, and Vineuse. 

The military operations being about to assume a new 
and more important phase, to assure their success, M. 
Thiers, by an official decree, appointed Marshal de 



142 THE PAEIS COMMUKE. 

McMahon commander-in-chief of the army of Versailles, 
an appointment that gave the greatest amount of satis- 
faction to all lovers of law and order in France. The 
illustrious Duke of Magenta, ever since the fatal day of 
Froeschwiller, was the most popular man in France, and 
the prestige of his name was immense. He had not yet 
thoroughly recovered from the wound received at the 
battle of Sedan when he was called to this new command. 

The composition of the army of Versailles, placed under 
the command of Marshal de McMahon, was as follows: 
The active army consisted of three corps — two of infantry 
and one of cavalry — commanded respectively by Generals 
Ladmirault, De Cissey, and Du Barail. General Borel was 
chief of staff; General Princeteau, commandant of artillery ; 
and General Brettevillois, commandant of engineers. 

The 1st corps was formed of three divisions, commanded 
by Generals Grenier, Laveaucoupet, and Montaudon. Its 
chief of staff was General Saget ; General Laffaille, com- 
mandant of artillery; and General Dubost, commandant 
of engineers. 

The second corps, as the first, numbered three divisions, 
commanded by Generals Lavasson-Sorval, Susbielle, and 
Lacretelle. Its chief of staff was General de Place; 
General de Berckheim, commandant of artillery; and 
General Sere de Eiviere, commandant of engineers. 

The third corps was composed of three divisions of 
cavalry, commanded by Generals Halna du Fretay, De 
Preuil and Eessayre. Its chief of staff was Colonel Bal- 
laud. It had also a battery of artillery attached to each 
division. 

Tlie Army of Eeserve was under the immediate direc- 
tion of General Vinoy. It was formed of three divisions, 
under the command of Generals Faron, Bruat, and Verge. 
Its chief of staff was General de Valdan ; General Eene 
commandant of artillery; General Dupouet, commandant 



MCMAnON IN" COMMAND. 143 

of engineers. To which force was added, towards the end 
of April, two other corps, viz., those of Generals Douay and 
Clinchant. 

It was thus, wibh six army corps, that Marshal de 
McMahon commenced active operations for the suppres- 
sion of the insurrection of Paris. 

The morning of the loth commenced with a sharp can- 
nonade, which lasted about four hours. The Versailles 
batteries then ceased firing, but for a considerable time, 
the insurgent guns continued to batter the defences at 
Neuilly and Courbeyoie. In the meantime rapid mus- 
ketry firing was kept up in the Bois de Boulogne and 
and Levallois, where the combatants, posted at the win- 
dows and concealed in the streets and gardens, kept up a 
constant fusillade. In the afternoon the batteries of Mont 
Valerien and Courbevoie recommenced their fire. 

The guns of Trocadero were tried during the morning, 
not on the fortress, as before, but on Longchamps, where 
reserved troops were encamped. From the Trocadero to 
Mont Valerien the distance is a little over three miles 
and a quarter, which was quite within reach of long range 
guns. Shells had already fallen at Chaillot which is in 
the rear of Trocadero. Passy also commenced to suffer 
from the fire in this new direction, as the projectiles in- 
tended for the battery on the Trocadero frequently fell 
there. The fighting was very obstinate during the after- 
noon at Levallois, a part of which village was occupied by 
the troops and part by the insurgents. At four o'clock two 
iron-clad locomotive batteries lefb the BatignoUe's station 
in the direction of Levallois, and shortly after the noise 
of the mitrailleuses, with which they were armed, could be 
heard. Two heavy ship guns placed on the bastion at 
the Porte St. Ouen also took part in the combat, which 
terminated by the insurgents falling back behind their 
barricades. 



144 THE PAEIS COMMUHE. 

On tlie morning of the 16tli the cannonade recom- 
menced at four, and continued without intermission until 
eight in the evening. The firing was chiefly from the insur- 
gent batteries. An incident occurred during the morning 
at the station of Colombes beyond the Seine. The insur- 
gents had advanced up the line to see whether it was cut, 
in order to manoeuvre the iron-clad railway batteries. A 
body of Versailles cavalry made a dash to cut off the 
retreat of the National Guards, but the locomotive which 
was waiting toward Asnieres came to the rescue, and, 
sending a volley from a mitrailleuse among the mounted 
troops, drove them back. The insurgents then retreated 
under cover of the engine, but without ascertaining how 
far beyond the station the line was open. 

The elections held on the 16th, for the purpose of filling 
up the vacancies in the Commune caused by resignations, 
was a strong rebuke to those who had usurped the power 
of the capital. The partisans of the Commune had an- 
nounced that the ballot on the 16th would be a striking 
triumph for them, that all Paris would rush to the urns 
in crowds, and nominate by acclamation the Communal 
candidates. They found themselves in front of a pitiable 
result. In most of the arrondissements the persons who 
had come forward had not received one-eighth of the 
number of voters on the electoral lists. This government 
had been at work nearly a month, and the people had 
been able to judge of its merits. General Cluseret, who 
gave orders to 150,000 men, had difficulty in obtaining 
1,968 votes ; General Dombrowski, in spite of the aid of 
the biographies in the official organ of the Hotel de Yille, 
presents himself escorted by 65 ; M. Courbet, the patriotic 
promoter of the demolition of the Vend6me Column, 
recruited as many as 2,418 supporters ; and Colonel Eazona 
is obliged to avow that with his 972 he had fewer electors 
than soldiers. 




PvAZOUA 
Commune of Pans 



1871 . 



KEWSPAPEES SUPPEESSED. 145 

The comments of yarious journals on these elections, 
produced the following decree from the Commune : 

The Commune, "which cannot possibly tolerate in he- 
sieged Paris journals which openly preach up civil war, give 
military information to the enemy, and propagate calumny 
against the defenders of the Republic, has decided that the 
Soir, the Cloche, the Opinion Nationale, and the Bien 
Public are hereby suppressed." 

One of the most important engagements of the siege 
took place on ths 17th between the regulars and the ad- 
vanced jDOsts at Asnieres. During the morning the troops 
from Versailles attacked the federal outposts on the rail- 
way, guarded by the 7' 7th battalion, which at once re- 
treated, abandoning the barricades and trenches. Four 
other battalions on the farther bank of the Seine, seeing 
their comrades fall back, and being attacked by mitrail- 
leuses, fled to the bridge of boats ; a detachment of cavalry 
made a dash, cutting off a large number and making them 
prisoners. The insurgents then endeavored to bring their 
locomotive batteries into action, but a shot from a bat- 
tery established at the Chateau de Becon seriously damaged 
one of those engines, and drove it off the rails ; the line 
in consequence became blocked, and the other locomotives 
had to return to Paris. The insurgents on the right 
bank, fearing that the troops might cross the pontoon 
bridge, severed it in the middle; but at that moment 
many insurgents still remained on the opposite side. 
Some of these men threw themselves into the river to 
endeavor to cross the gap in the chain of boats by swim- 
ming ; others tried to climb up the slope of the railway 
bridge, on which they were exposed to ths fire of the 
troops ; whilst many were carried away by the stream and 
drowned. 

7 



14G' THE PARIS COMMUNE. 

By noon the "vvhole of Asnieres b'^'' been evacuated by 
the insurgents, leaving 150 killed and 50 prisoners in 
the hands of the regular troops, who contented themselves 
with strengthening their positions in the vicinity of Gen- 
nevilliers. The insurgents stopped in their retreat before 
arriving at the ramparts, and the ojSicers reformed their 
companies as well as they could. During the afternoon 
they advanced again to the river, and a fire was kept up 
between them and the troops until evening. During the 
day the Chateau of Becon, a most important position, was 
carried by the young Colonel Davoust, at the head of the 
36th regiment. This ofiBcer is a grandson of the celebrated 
Marshal of the first ISTapoleon of the same name, M. Thiers 
made the action the subject of the following despatch to 
the Sub-Prefects : 

" April nth, T.SO P.M. 

" Our troops to day executed a brilliant feat of arms in 
the direction of Courbevoie. The division of General 
Montaudon captured the Chateau of Becon after a sharp 
cannonade. The young Colonel Davoust, Due d'Auerstaedt, 
rushed forward at the head of his regiment and carried 
the place. Our engineers immediately commenced an 
epaulement with sacks of earth, in order to establish a 
battery. The position of Asnieres thus attacked will no 
longer be able to disturb our tete de pont at Nenilly; we 
have no other object, and still persist in avoiding small 
actions, until the decisive engagement which shall restore 
the authority of the law. The event of to-day, executed 
under a cross fire from Asnieres and the ramparts, is 
nevertheless a remarkable act of skill and energy. 

'•'A. Thiers." 

The victorious troops did not at once follow up their 
successes; and the insurgents, rallied by Dombrowski, 
endeavored by repeated charges to recover lost ground, 



WHY THIERS DELAYS. 147 

but iu vain, as th'^~-^were again driven from Colombes 
across tlie river. 

The Chief of the Executive Power has had a singular 
fortune. He attacked the fortifications of Paris which he 
constructed, and ordered an assault on the Chateau of 
Becon, where he passed the whole of the summer of 1835 
consecrated to peaceful studies. 

"M. Thiers issued to the provincial authorities the 
following proclamation, in answer to complaints of pro- 
crastination made by country journals : 

"We persist in onr system of temporization for two 
reasons, which we can avow; first of all, to collect forces 
so imposing that resistance will be impossible, and there- 
fore not sanguinary ; and secondly, to leave misled men 
the time to return to reason. 

" They have been told that the Government desires to 
destroy the Eepnblic — a statement absolutely false; the 
sole occupation of the Executive being to pnt an end to 
the civil war, to re-establish order, credit, labor, and effect 
the evacuation of the territory by the fulfilment of the 
obligations contracted with Prussia. 

" Those misguided men have been told that we wish to 
shoot them all; another falsehood, as the Grovernment 
pardons all who lay down their arms, as it has done with 
the 2,000 prisoners it supports at Belle-Isle without exact- 
ing any service from them. 

"Finally, they have been told that, deprived of the 
subsidy which enabled them to live, they will be forced to 
die of hunger — an assertion as untrue as all the rest ; for 
the Government has promised them to continue their 
pay for some weeks yet, in order to provide them with the 
means of awaiting the resumption of work which is certain 
to arrive as soon as order is re-established and submission 
to the law obtained." 



14:8 . THEPARISCOMMUKE. 

M. Thiers was also seriously embarrassed by the Cabinet 
of BerHn. The execution of the preliminaries of peace 
was delayed, and the dissatisfaction of Prince Bismarck 
was very manifest. Thiers made the same reply to the 
Germans that he had made to the proyinces and the 
Assembly. He asked them to wait and let him act, other- 
wise he preferred to resign. Neither the Federal Ghan- 
cellor nor the Ghamber wished to see him leave, as he was 
necessary for the re-establishment of order. The Prince 
desired him to remain, and he troubled himself little 
about the means. He likewise wished him to retain office 
because the restoration of tranquillity could alone guar- 
antee the debt due to Prussia. The process of re-estab- 
lishing order concerned the German minister nearly ; and 
had the Versaillais not moved speedily, he would probably 
have taken the matter into his own hands. 

Deputation after deputation continued to arrive at Ver- 
sailles, mostly emanating from the Union RepuUicaine, for 
the purpose of inducing the Ghief of the Executive Power 
to treat with the Gommune. A considerable movement 
also took place in several large towns for the same pur- 
pose. The Lyons delegation had an interview with M. 
Thiers ; and, in the name of their fellow-citizens, presented 
considerations in favor of the Gommunal movement in 
Paris. The head of the Executive received them kindly, 
and gave them a safe conduct to the capital, where they 
had an interview with the Gommune; but the result 
proved that the Gommune wanted what Thiers would not 
concede, viz., power. 

The lighting commenced at daybreak on the morning 
of the 18th, although followed by no important movement 
of troops. Mont Valerien was never more active. 

The regular troops unmasked a new battery in the Park 
of liTeuilly, and from that point and the Ghateau of Becon 
kept up an incessant discharge on the village of Levallois 



EFFECT OF BUESTING SHELLS. 149 

and tlio bridge of Asnieres, where the insurgents had 
accumulated extensive works of defence. 

A large number of guns had been sent from Paris 
during the previous day, but they were still lying on the 
road to Asnieres. The insurgent officers appeared not to 
know what to do with them, and had heaped them up on 
the banks of the Seine. Six 12-pounders were lying 
behind a barricade, and numerous others were scattered 
on the railway embankment. Several iron-clad locomotives 
were also lying on the line hard by, on one of which a 
serious accident had just occurred. The gun, a breach- 
loader, worked by live artillerymen, being overcharged, 
blew out the movable plug, killing two of the men, and 
wounding the three others. 

The regular troops had iron-clad locomotive batteries 
on its side also, but they were still kept in reserve. 

Numerous accidents were occurring daily near Porte 
Maillot, at the Ternes and Arc de Triomphe, which were 
the quarters most exposed to the shots from JSTeuilly and 
Kond Point. At No. 11 Eue Bayen a shell entered a room 
where a woman was seated at table with two children ; 
the mother was killed, and the others wounded. Another 
fractured both legs of a man who was walking by the side 
of a cart. A gentleman was crossing the Avenue de I'lm- 
peratrice on horseback, and a shell cut off both the horses' 
forelegs, throwing the man on his face without injuring 
him in the least. 

On the 18th of April, the Eepublican League published 
the following address : 

"M. Thiers' statements to our delegates afforded us 
guarantees neither for the maintenance of the Eepublic 
nor the establishment of Communal liberty, in fact for 
none of the things we demanded. That which we pre- 
dicted has come true — civil war which it depended upon 



150 THE PARIS COMMUNE. 

the JSFatioual Assembly to stop has hrokeii out T/ith fresh 
fury. On the other hand, the Commime, by putting for- 
ward no programme, and by refusing to explain its views 
with regard to ours, has depriyed the defenders of the 
rights of Paris of the advantages they would possess in 
having the ground they take up clearly marked out. In 
the presence of the foreigner, who watches our move- 
ments, we hold to the conviction that the only possible 
issue from the present conflict is to be found in a com- 
promise, of which we have indicated the essential ele- 
ments. In this position of affairs we have a duty to per- 
form, namely, to maintain the whole of our programme 
and to take such resolutions as, following the various 
phases of the struggle, shall appear to us best calculated 
to ensure the triumph of our principles. We have de- 
cided from the present moment to place ourselves in com- 
munication with the municipal councils of the principal 
towns in France, and to make known to them the legiti- 
mate Avishes of Paris, to which we shall lend a powerful 
support. Lyons, which has obtained its Commune ; Lille, 
Macon, and other towns which understand that the cause 
of Paris is the cause of all the Communes of France, have 
anticipated our appeal. Their intervention is a sign 
which it would be imprudent in the National Assembly 
to misunderstand. Let the Assembly comprehend at last 
that all the great cities of France have resolved to xiphoid 
towards and against all, the Eepublican form of govern- 
ment, and to give it as an unshakable basis. Communal 
liberties in their integrity?' 

The Commune finally issued its programme so fre- 
quently called for and so long delayed. The document 
is of such an eccentric character that it well deserves to 
be reproduced. It was published in the official journal 
of the Commune, April 19th : 



TKOGEAMME OF THE C M M UST E . 151 

'' It is the duty of the Commune to confirm and ascer- 
tain the aspirations and wishes of the people of Paris. 
The i^recise character of the movement of the 18th of 
March is misunderstood and unknown, and is calum- 
niated by the politicians at Versailles. At that time Paris 
still labored and suffered for the whole of France, for whom 
she had prepared by her battles an intellectual, moral, ad- 
ministrative, and economic regeneration, glory, and pros- 
perity. "What does she demand? The recognition and 
consolidation of the Eepublic, and the absolute autonomy 
of the Commune extended at all places in France, thus 
assuring to each the integrality of its rights, and to every 
Frenchman the full exercise of his faculties and aptitudes 
as a man, a citizen, and a producer. The autonomy of 
the Commune has no other limits but its rights. The 
autonomy is equal for all Communes who are adherents 
of the contract, the association of which ought to secure 
the unity of France. The inherent rights of the Com- 
mune are to vote the Communal budget of receipts and 
expenses, the imposing and alteration of taxes, the direc- 
tion of local services, the organization of the magistracy, 
internal police, and education. The administration of the 
property belonging to the Commune, the choice by elec- 
tion or competition with the responsibility and permanent 
right of control and revocation of the communal magis- 
trates and officials of all classes, the absolute guarantee of 
individual liberty and liberty of conscience, the permanent 
intervention of the citizens in communal affairs by the 
free manifestation of their ideas and the free defence of 
their interests ; guarantees given to those manifestations 
by the Commune who alone are charged with securing 
the free and just exercise of the right of meeting and pub- 
licity ; tlie organization of urban defence, and of the Na- 
tional Guard, which elects its chiefs and alone v/atches 
over the maintenance of order in the city. Paris wishes 



153 THE PAEIS OOMMUlsrE. 

nothing more under the head of local guarantees, on the 
well-understood condition of regaining, in a grand central 
administration and delegation from the Federal Com- 
munes, the realization and practice of those principles ; 
hut in favor of her autonomy, and profiting by her liberty 
of action, she reserves to herself to bring about as may 
seem good to her administrative and economic reforms^ 
which the people demand, and to create such institutions 
as may serve to develop and further education. Produce, 
exchange, and credit have to universalize power and prop- 
erty according to the necessities of the moment, the wishes 
of those interested, and the data furnished by experience. 
" Our enemies deceive themselves, or deceive the coun- 
try, when they accuse Paris of desiring to impose its will 
and supremacy upon the rest of the nation, and to aspire 
to a dictatorship which would be a veritable attempt to 
overthrow the independence and sovereignty of other 
Communes. They deceive themselves when they accuse 
Paris of seeking the destruction of French unity estab- 
lished by the Eevolution. The unity which has been im- 
posed upon us up to the present by the Empire, the Mon- 
archy, and the Parliamentary Government, is nothing but 
centralization, desjDotic, unintelligent, arbitrary, and oner- 
ous. The political unity, as desired by Paris, is a volun- 
tary association of all local initiative, the free and spon- 
taneous co-operation of all individual energies with the 
common object of the well-being, liberty, and security of 
all. The Communal revolution, initiated by the people 
on the 18th of March, inaugurated a new era in politics, 
experimental, positive, and scientific. It was the end 
of the old governmental and clerical world, of military 
supremacy and bureaucracy, of jobbing in monopolies, 
and privileges to which the proletariat owed its slavery, 
and the country its misfortunes and disasters. The strife 
between Paris and Versailles is one of those that cannot 



ABSUKDITY OE ITS CLAIMS. 153 

be ended by an illusory compromise — the issue should not 
be doubtful. The victory fought for with such indom- 
itable energy by the Commune will remain with the idea 
and with the right. We appeal to France, which knows 
that Paris in arms possesses as much calm as bravery, 
where order is maintained with as much energy as enthu- 
siasm, which is ready to sacrifice herself with as much 
reason as energy. Paris is only in arms in consequence 
of her devotion to liberty, and the glory of all in France 
ought to cause this bloody conflict to cease. 

" It is for France to disarm Versailles by a solemn mani- 
festation of her irresistible will. Summoned to profit by 
our conquests, she should declare herself identified with 
our efforts ; she should be our ally in the contest which 
can only end by the triumph of the Communal idea or 
the ruin of Paris. As for ourselves, citizens of Paris, we 
have a mission to accomplish, a modern revolution, the 
greatest and the most fruitful of all those which have il- 
luminated history. It is our duty to fight and conquer." 

It might have been alleged that the title of the Com- 
mune to rule the country was quite as good as that of the 
government that preceded it ; but well established as was 
their unscrupulousness, it was amusing to find the men 
who were daily arresting dozens of harmless citizens talk- 
ing of their fighting for individual liberty, and after 
arresting priests wholesale, forcibly closing their churches, 
and brutally expelling nuns from their convents, having 
the incredible impudence to describe themselves as the 
champions of the rights of conscience. The appeal to the 
people of France to join them against the Assembly at 
Versailles was too extravagant to be seriously examined. 
The only thing serious, indeed, in the whole proclamation, 
was that these men meant to fight to the bitter end, and 
ruin Paris, unless France acceded to their insane terms. 



154 THE PAEIS COMMUNE. 

The fighting was commenced at five o'clock on the 
morning of the 19th, with great obstinacy. Prom that 
hour there was a constant roar of cannon, musketry and 
mitrailleuses all along the line, from the extreme left to 
the extreme right. Shells flew through the sky over the 
doomed quarters to the west of Paris, shrieking like birds 
of ill-omen, and they fell in scores about the Ternes and 
the Champ Elysees. Clichy and the northern parts of 
Levallois were, however, the objective points, and the 
damage was severe at the right side of the bridge of Asni- 
dres, and all about the space between the Versailles rail- 
way and the Avenue de Clichy. The insurgents suffered 
very heavily, for they had a habit of clustering together 
behind walls, and under what they considered to be the 
protection of street corners, the consequence of which was, 
when a shell burst near them it did fearful execution. 
The heavy fire of musketry was due chiefly to men sta- 
tioned in the houses and on the house-tops. The walls of 
every dwelling from whence the bridge and the railway 
could be commanded were loop-holed with utter disregard 
to the rights of property ; and mattresses, pillows, and even 
feather beds stuffed into the windows to do duty as sand- 
bags. The insurgents thus intrenched, and further pro- 
tected by a strong barricade, kept up an incessant musketry 
fire on Asnieres, and the guns at the Porte d'Asnieres and 
the Porte Bineau were each firing in the direction in 
which the enemy was supposed to be. Of course the shells 
and bullets must fall somewhere, but as the position of 
the regular troops was very imperfectly known, and those 
few that were known could be seen from the walls, the 
execution they did among the Versailles troops was not 
very formidable. On the other hand the insurgents occu- 
pied a narrow zone outside the walls, and did not even 
occupy the banks of the river, so that the fierce shelling to 
which their positions were subjected did great havoc in 



A BOLD ATTEMPT, 155 

their ranks. Many, probably, would have run away if 
they had had a chance; but the fortifications behind them 
barred the waj, and whenever a party came up to the 
gates, they were rigidly excluded. Numbers, however, 
congregated all along the covered way behind the glacis, 
and whenever a party of wounded came in, they made a 
rush to get inside the city with the convoy. 

At Neuilly the firing was quite as heavy as at Asnieres 
and Clichy. In the evening, a body of insurgents made 
their way through the partition walls of the various 
houses on the left side of the old Neuilly road, and suc- 
ceeded in penetrating, unawares, as far as the Eue des 
Huissiers, within one hundred yards of the bridge of 
ISTeuilly, built up a couple of barricades, and armed them 
with six guns. They immediately opened fire on the Ver- 
sailles troops in the Avenue de Neuilly, and the movement 
was executed with great vigor and courage ; but it was 
not likely to be attended with success if large reinforce- 
ments could be brought up. The consequence of this 
manoeuvre, brilliant as it was, proved disastrous to the 
troops of the Commune. 

The Versailles forces stormed the barricades with so 
much impetuosity that the insurgents had no time to get 
out of the way. Numbers of them were killed, wounded, 
or taken prisoners. Their six guns were captured and 
turned against them. They fled in disorder to the gates, 
volleys of grape being fired into them as they went. The 
soldiers then made another dash forward, and carried a bar- 
ricade on the Boulevard Bineau, inflicting serious loss on its 
defenders. Thereupon the guns on the ramparts began to 
thunder, their covering parties fired volleys, and an awful 
din was kept up till daybreak, when the Versailles artillery 
replied in right earnest, and shelled all the positions, as well 
as the quarter of the town immediately behind the walls. 

This engagement was one of the most sanguinary yet 



156 THE PAEIS COMMUNE. 

fought. The 27th, 74th and 76th battalions lost one-third 
of their effective force. 

On the .events of the day the official journal of the 
Commune published the following reports : 

''After a sanguinary engagement we have retaken our 
position. Our troops, the left wing in advance, seized on 
a store of the enemy's provisions, consisting of sixty-nine 
casks of hams, cheese and bacon. The combat continues 
furiously ; the enemy's artillery at Courbevoie covers us 
with projectiles and grape ; but in spite of the vivacity of 
his fire, our right wing is at this moment executing a 
movement with a view to surrounding the troops of the 
line who have advanced too far. I require five battalions 
of fresh men, two thousand at least, because my adver- 
saries are in considerable force. 

" DOMBEOWSKI." 

April 19th, morning. — We were attacked at daybreak 
by strong columns of the line ; and our men, deceived by 
friendly signals made by the soldiers, were surprised ; but 
I have promptly re-established order. 

" DOMBEOWSKI." 

The Archbishop of Paris having written a letter from 
his prison to M. Thiers on the subject of pretended cru- 
elties to the Communist prisoners, the chief of the execu- 
tive power replied through the Paris journals, indignantly 
denying the charge. He said that the hospitals at Ver- 
sailles contained a large number of insurgents who are 
attended to with the greatest kindness; that the sixteen 
hundred prisoners who had been sent to Belle-Isle or 
elsewhere were treated with far greater consideration than 
any of the soldiers would have been if taken by the Com- 
munists ; and concluded by reiterating his offers of par- 
don to any of the insurgents who should lay down their 
arms, and by promising assistance to the necessitous until 



ACCURACY or THE PIEIJTG. 157 

a revival of commerce sliould enable them to earn their 
own living. 

The firing was continued on the morning of the 20tli 
on every side, esioecially between Mont Valerien and Porte 
Maillot, the insurgents at the latter position sticking to 
their guns with a daring worthy a better cause. The fire 
of Valerien was extremely correct, hardly ever missing its 
object, and probably during the entire bombardment not 
over fifty shells thrown from that fort passed one hundred 
feet beyond the gate. The batteries of . Courbevoie, the 
Park of Neuilly, and bridge of Neuilly, were those that 
did all the damage to the western part of the city. Their 
guns being directed at the Porte des Ternes or Porte 
Maillot, and being nearly level with those points, if the 
shells passed the gates they fell in the vicinity of the Arc 
de Triomphe or Champs Elysees. Many and loud were 
the curses during these days from the partisans of law 
and order in the city at the careless firing from these 
points ; but the firing was not so bad as it seemed to be. 
When standing at the Arc de Triomphe and looking at 
the Porte Maillot, it seemed as if the descent to that point 
was very great, at least ten degrees. This is an optical 
delusion, for standing at the Porte Maillot, and looking 
at the Arc, they appear to be on a dead level. 

A rather sharj3 engagement took place during the 
morning near the bridge of Clichy. A strong reconnais- 
sance of troops from Gennevilliers had advanced to the 
insurgents' outposts, when the latter commenced firing, 
and brought on themselves a general discharge which 
killed some of their men. The insurgents then fell back 
on their reinforcements, which had arrived on hearing the 
musketry. The troops continued the fire for about an 
hour, when they spread out as skirmishers, and retired with 
some loss. The regulars also made an unsuccessful at- 
tempt to seize the bridge of Asniercs, and open communi- 



158 THE PAKIS COMMUNE. 

cations with the right bank. They commenced by bom- 
barding the village for an hour with extraordinary yiolence 
from Becon, Courbevoie, and Neuilly. A strong force 
occupied the railway station, and a regiment was massed 
near the bridge, but the insurgents on their sides brought 
up two mitrailleuses and two iron-clad locomotive batte- 
ries, and discharged three volleys at the station, driving 
out the enemy. An attack by the soldiers of the line 
against the bridge also failed under the fire of the guns 
brought up by the insurgents. 

In the meantime a shell fell into a powder magazine of 
the insurgents near the Porte d'Asnieres, and blew up a 
large building occupied by a number of families of work- 
ing people, and which crumbled to the ground like a 
house of cards. A large number of men immediately 
commenced to clear the ruins, and between twenty-five 
and thirty men, women, and children were got out, many 
dangerously injured. While this work was going on, the 
Versailles batteries suspended their fire. 

The forts of Vanv'es, Issy, and Montrouge on the 
southern side exchanged frequent cannon-shots with the 
Versailles batteries of Chatillon and Brimborion, whilst 
the redoubt of Montretout and the battery at Meudon 
also sent occasional shells on Issy and the lower part of 
Clamart ; but nothing of much importance was done in 
that direction. Everything, however, presaged a general 
attack, and the insurgents had received orders to hold 
themselves ready to march at a moment's notice. 

The following oflicial despatches were received from 
Dombrowski during the day : 

" 20th, half-past twelve in the day. 

" During the night the enemy did not attempt anything 
against us, and we were merely cannonaded by the bat- 
teries at Courbevoie and Valerien. Our troops are fortify- 



SEAliCIIING THE CONVENTS. 159 

iug themselves in their positions, and taking a little rest 
after the great fatigue of the day." 

" AsNiERES, 20th, four in the afternoon. 

" Colonel Olokowietz has been wounded in the head 
and arms, and received a contusion in the side. Captain 
de Gournay was overturned by the colonel when falling, 
but escaped without hurt. A rumor prevails that three 
houses have toppled down, and that some men have been 
taken out dead from under the ruins. 

" The store of ammunition placed in one of the cellars 
is all safe. This morning, in front of the ambulance at 
Paul Dupont's printing-office, Captain Culot had his head 
carried away by a shell. The Versailles troops continue 
their fire on the spot. 

" The spirit of the ISTational Guards is excellent. The 
enemy does not fire much." 

"Neuhxt, 20th, half-past four. 

"Two barricades abandoned last evening at nightfall 
were . occupied by the enemy, but have been retaken by 
the federals. The others are intrenched on the left bank 
of the Seine. The cannonade continues." 

The Commune this day searched all the convents and 
nunneries, and shut up some thirty churches, arresting 
the priests. A universal feeling of uneasiness pervaded 
all classes of society, arising from the tone of the ultra 
journals of the Commune. The following specimen is 
from the Montagne, one of the most rabid of the Socialists' 
organs : 

"In 1848, when Monseigneur Affre was shot, we be- 
lieved in a divine mission, and fancied that a bishop's 
cope was of greater value than a workman's blouse. 
Education has made sceptics of us ; the revolution of '71 
is atheistic ; our Republic wears a bouquet of immortelles 
in her bosom. We take our dead to their homes and our 



160 THE PAEIS COMMUNE. 

wives to our hearts without a prayer. Priests, throw aside 
your frocks, turn up your sleeves, lay your hands upon 
the plow; for a song to the lark in the morning air is 
better than a mumbling of psalms ; and an ode to spark- 
ling wine is preferable to a chanting of hymns. Our 
dogs, which used only to growl when a bishop passed, 
will bite him now ; and not a voice will be raised to curse 
the day which dawns for the sacrifice of the Archbishop 
of Paris, "VYe owe it to ourselves — we owe it to the world. 
The Commune has promised us an eye for an eye, and has 
given us Monseigneur Darboy as a hostage. The justice 
of the tribunals shall commence, said Danton, when the 
wrath of the people is appeased — and he was right. 
Darboy ! tremble in your cell, for your day is past ; your 
end is close at hand." 

The Communists' writers published such documents as 
the above, and the masses were harangued by club orators 
in the following strain: "Down with the proprietors! 
Let us thank heaven that most of them are gone^ — having 
fled like cowards before the gathering anger of the people. 
Let their property be sequestered for- the universal good ; 
let their houses be sold, and the money divided among 
the working classes. "We are poor and hungry. Shall 
our wives be forced upon the streets, and our brothers 
driven to robbery for the sake of our starving little ones ? 
No! let us take possession of the palaces that seem to 
smile at our woe ; let us seize the goods of the masters 
that are away, and even take their wives and children as 
hostages in case of further need." 

The official organ of the Commune published a decree 
suppressing all night- work in bakeries, also one re-estab- 
lishing the practice of sending letters by balloon, and 
organizing a system of civil and military aeronautics. 

On the proposition of Citizen Delescluze, the Commune 



EXECUTIVE OF THE C0MMU2TE. 161 

modified the composition of its Executive Committee, 
which was to consist in the future of a delegate from each 
of the nine Commissions. The decree said nothing in 
regard to the duration of the Committee — declaring that 
the body was to exercise its powers provisionally. The 
following were the delegates named : 

Delegate of War — Cluseeet. 

Finance — Jourde. 

Su hsisten ce — Vi AU d. 

Exterior Relations— VasceaIj Grousset. 

Lalor and Exchange — Frakckel. 

Justice — Protot, 

PuUic Service — Andrieu. 

Information — Valliant. 

General Surety — E. Eigault. 

The Commune also reminded its members that they 
. were bound to attend the sittings with exactitude. If 
prevented, they were to send notice to the President, or 
give a satisfactory explanation on the next occasion. 

In addition to the four journals already named as sup- 
pressed by the Commune, twelve others were stop]3ed, 
thus depriving some six or seven thousand persons directly 
or indirectly connected therewith of their daily bread. 

A committee of practical jewelers met to-day at the 
Ministry of Finance to examine and estimate the value 
of a number of sapphires and fine pearls found in the 
cellars of that building. Among other things, there were 
two pearls as large as pigeons' eggs, and, in the opinion 
of all present, worth several millions of francs; also an 
inestimable collection of sapphires, which were to be sold 
at auction in France or England. 

Throughout the whole day of the 21st the cannonade 
and the rattle of the mitrailleuses continued in the vicinity 
of Asnieres and ISTeuilly. The musketry, however, was 



162 THE PARIS COMMUTE. 

silent, on account of the distance of the barricades from 
each other. A short engagement occurred in the direc- 
tion of Levallois, which turned to the advantage of the 
regulars. 

The Versailles troops opened during the day a new 
battery near the island of the Grande Jatte, and sent some 
shells to the Porte Bineau, which had been spared until 
then, although guns were mounted there. From noon to 
three in the afternoon the district of the Ternes receiyed 
from two to three shells per minute. 

The establishment of insurgent batteries at Levallois 
and Clichy had placed these villages in an unfortunate 
situation, as the cannon of the Chateau Becon and the 
redoubt of Gennevilliers in returning the fire had crushed 
them with shells. Some of these projectiles had even 
reached as far as the ramparts. Most of the inhabitants 
were obliged to take refuge in the city. An attack was 
made during the day on the Park of Neuilly, by order of 
Dombrowski. Two battalions advanced along the road 
at double-quick, took three barricades by escalade, and 
planted red flags among the stones, in high delight at 
their easy victory. Onward they rushed, intoxicated with 
success, until they arrived at the park wall, when suddenly 
a murderous fire was poured upon them from the mouths 
of a row of Gatling guns, which showered such a con- 
tinuous and merciless hail of bullets upon the unprotected 
throng as only that terrible engine can inflict. They fled 
in wild disorder, leaving the road literally piled with dead, 
only to find at the furthermost barricade a company of 
their own men, who stood with bayonets fixed to check 
their flight. Thus driven forward again, they recoiled 
once more from a renewed volley ; and then commenced a 
panic-stricken rout which no human power could control. 
They ran from gate to gate clamoring for admittance, 
which was persistently refused, and at length forced their 



II E A VY SLAUGHTER. 163 

way over tlie drawbridge of St. Oiien, which happened to 
be down at the time. 

Numerous omnibuses were requisitioned during the day 
for the conveyance of the wounded, who appeared to be 
very numerous. The ambulance service was almost com- 
pletely disorganized, and the wounded would often lie in 
the streets and die without receiving any surgical attend- 
ance. Many insurgents could be seen lying dead in the 
gardens at Levallois, or were buried near the spot where 
they fell. Others were carried into the city, and an eye- 
witness counted seventeen omnibuses, on the 21st, filled 
with dead bodies being brought into Paris by the gate of 
Asnieres. Funeral processions, following cars surmounted 
with the red flag of the Commune, were also passing every 
moment along the Boulevard de Clicliy, on their way to 
the cemetery of Montmartre. The insurgents began to be 
somewhat affected at the death of so many of their com- 
rades, and complained that they were not sufficiently sup- 
ported. 

An immense shell entered, on this day, the window of the 
house of Eev. Dr. Lamson, Pastor of the Episcopal Chapel, 
and passing through a thick stone wall, dropped on the stair- 
way unexploded ; had it burst, the house would have been 
shattered to atoms. Ten minutes later, a man, woman 
and two children were killed while passing across the 
Avenue Josephine. Several other persons in the vicinity 
threw themselves on their faces at the same time, and were 
saved. The shells came from the bridge of Neuilly. 

On the 23rd of April, the following proclamation ap- 
peared in the official journal of the Commune : 

"After having conferred with the Executive Com- 
mission, and in the strict end of humanity, I authorize a 
suspension of arms at ISTeuilly, for the purpose of per- 
mitting the old men, women and children to enter Paris — 



164: THE PARIS COMMUIfE. 

in a word, all non-combatants surrounded at Neuilly, wlio 
are the innocent victims of this struggle. 

" General Dombrowski, in accord with Citizens Bonvallet 
and Stupuy, of the Union RepuUicaine des Droits de 
Paris, will take the necessary military dispositions, that 
the suspension of arms and statu quo may be strictly 
maintained. This suspension will take place during the 
day. 

" As soon as a resjaonse from Versailles is received, the 
day and duration of the armistice will be arranged. 

" Cluseret, 

" The Delegate of War." 

For three weeks the inhabitants of Neuilly had been 
obliged to live in their cellars, in a starving condition. 

On the night of the 22d of April, the movement of the 
regular troops in the peninsula of Gennevilliers was so 
marked that all Paris believed a general attack was about 
to be made from that side. The rappel was beaten at the 
Ternes and Batignolles. The cannon that had been con- 
veyed for the last few days to the ramparts were put in 
position, and directed on Gennevilliers. The night, how- 
ever, was calm — more calm than the preceding ones, its 
silence only being broken by the battery of Asnieres, 
which continued its duel with the Chateau of Becon. 

At seven in the morning the columns of Versailles sol- 
diers took the route along the Seine, in the direction of 
Clichy and St. Ouen. ' A bridge of boats had been thrown 
across the Seine above Clichy, at the narrowest point of 
the river ; and, favored by the fogginess of the morning, 
the soldiers of the Assembly were advancing on the village. 
The plan was clear. Clichy taken, Levallois could be 
surrounded, and the insurgents who remained on the right 
side of the river, in front of Asnieres, were cut off from 
the rest of the army. 

Dombrowski, informed of the movement, hurriedly col- 



NO AEMISTICE YET. 165 

lected fiye battalions of his men, and arrived the first at 
Levallois. The march of the troops was much delayed by 
the fire of the ramparts, which were armed in this quarter 
by the largest pieces. The obstinacy was great on both 
sides. Having placed some flying artillery to counteract 
the fire from the ramparts, the soldiers of the Assembly, 
after being shut up in Clichy, attempted twice to pass. 
They were kept back more by the fire from the bastions 
than from that of Levallois ; but they were obliged to re- 
cross the Seine to gain their intrenchments. 

This was one of the few operations deliberately sketched 
for this part of the campaign. It was a plan worthy of 
success, and did honor to the Versailles generals, as also 
to Dombrowski, by whose vigilance it was defeated. 

The 23d passed without any remarkable engagement, 
the situation remaining unchanged. Mont Valerien and 
the batteries of Rond Pont continued to fire on the insur- 
gents' positions at Olichy, Levallois, Porte Maillot, and 
Ternes. An artillery duel was still kept up between the 
forts and the Versailles troops at Meudon and Clamart. 
Soldiers were being moved to different positions round the 
city, and the general impression was that the decisive mo- 
ment was approaching. 

A proclamation of General Cluseret announced the 
armistice for the 24th; but the morning dawn left no 
illusions on that point. Valerien, Courbevoie, and all the 
Versailles batteries, saluted the rising sun with more than 
usual noise. Neuilly, the Avenues de I'lmperatrice, Fried- 
land, Wagram, and that of the Eeine Hortense, were 
covered with projectiles. 

It was supposed that the authorities of Versailles had 
violated the armistice, or that there was some mistake 
on their part ; it turned out, however, that General Cluse- 
ret had only fixed the day without waiting for a reply 
from the other side. 



166 THE PARIS COMMUNE. 

In the early part of the day a great movement of troops 
had taken place between St. Oiien and Genneyilliers. 
Numerous battalions had been massed within the ram- 
parts of Olichy and BatignoUes, the artillery-men were at 
their guns, and mounted orderlies were hurrying through 
the streets, and calling on the inhabitants to keep their 
doors and windows closed, and not to yenture into the 
streets. The insurgents waited thus until eight o'clock, 
when General Dombrowski arrived, and finding the 
enemy did not attack, sent two battalions in the direction 
of the Isle des Eavageurs. But in reaching the Seine they 
were received by a heavy fusillade from the left bank of 
the river. The troops were concealed in houses at As- 
nieres, and keeping up a musketry fire ; but the Federals 
continued to advance to the island which was then occu- 
pied by a small body of soldiers. These latter, however, 
were dislodged after a sharp engagement. 

About one in the afternoon the army opened a fresli 
battery, which had been put in position on the Oourbe- 
voie side of the Chateau Becon ; the one in the mansion 
was too much exposed, and had suffered considerably 
from the fire of the guns below the bridge of Asnieres. 
The troops had in consequence removed their guns be- 
hind a small ridge about three hundred yards from the 
Demi-Lune. The commander of the 207th battalion of 
the insurgents was killed on the bridge of Asnieres, but 
his body lay two days where it fell, and could not be re- 
moved, the spot was so exposed to the fire of both parties ; 
and in the midst of the animosity excited by this horrible 
civil war, no person had an idea of advancing with a flag 
of truce to bring in the corpse. 

The troops had a slight success near the market place 
at Neuilly; the insurgents were defending a barricade, 
and as the attack was made without spirit, they imagined 
they had little to fear from their adversaries, when a part 



RAOUL RIGAULT RESIGKS. 167 

of the soldiers jjassing through some gardens took them 
in the rear, and the latter finding themselves between two 
fires, surrendered to the number of fifty. 

The official journal of the Commune printed the fol- 
lowing despatches on the events of the day : 

"IssT, Headquarters, 24tli April. 

" The night has been tranquil. Our bombs have dis- 
quieted the enemy's workmen. The Versaillese ap- 
proached to within fifty metres; a discharge of mitrail- 
leuses routed them." 

" Neuillt, 4 o'clock, morning. 

An attack by the Versaillese repulsed the 27th bat- 
talion ; we had tvw killed and seven wounded." 

" Afternoon, 4 o'clock. 

" The action continues, Versaillese in retreat." 

"ASNEEKES. 

"The Versaillese give way; no losses on our side." 

The official organ also announced that Citizen Eaoul 
Eigault, Delegate for Public Safety, had resigned and 
been. succeeded by Citizen Cournet. He was, however, 
appointed a member of the committee at the head of the 
same service. The cause of this important change was 
explained in the account published of the last sitting of 
the Commune, Citizen Eigault, adverting to a decision of 
that body on the preceding day, when he was absent, that 
" all members could visit prisoners," declared that for the 
interests of justice such a course was impossible for per- 
sons in secret confinement ; unless the vote was annulled, 
he should be obliged, he added, to give in his resignation. 
A long and stormy discussion ensued, and at the end" of 
which the former vote was maintained by 24 to 17. In 
consequence. Citizen Eigault persisted, and his successor 
was appointed at once. 



168 • THE PAKIS COMMUNE, 

M. Thiers visited St. Denis on the 24th, and had a long 
interview with the Crown Prince of Saxony and General 
Fabrice ; he informed them that the Versailles army num- 
bered 150,000 men, and that they would all be thoroughly 
prepared by the 1st of May. 



CHAPTER VII. 



The armistice — Unhappy condition of the inhahitants of Nenilly— Sitting of 
the Commune— Official circular from Versailles— Cannonade of Fort Issy— 
Reconnaissance on the Boulevard Bineau— Meeting of Freemasons at the 
Chatelet— English journals — Les MoulLneaux captured by the troops— At- 
tack on Neuilly— Reported cruelty of a Versailles captain— Speech of M. 
Thiers in the Assembly— Combats on the Boulevard du Chateau— Pro- 
clamations of General Cluseret— Meeting of Freemasons — Speeches at the 
Hotel de Ville— Procession to the ramparts— Deputation to Versailles — 
Evacuation of Fort Issy — Re-occupied by the insurgents— Versailles Cir- 
cular — Deposition of Cluseret — His arrest — Rossel appointed to the War 
Department — His history — Issy summoned to surrender — Rossel's reply — 
Committee of Public Safety — Letter of Rossel — Capture of the Chateau of 
Issy— Heroic defence of the fort— Cannonade of Fort Vanves — Redoubt of 
Moulin — Jaquet taken — Fighting at Neuilly— Deputation of the Republican 
League— Decree of the Committee of Public Safety— Military appoint- 
ments—Brilliant successes of the troops— The Mont-de-Piete. 



ON the morning of the 25th April the suspension of 
arms took place, in order to permit tlie inhahitants 
of IsTeuilly to leave their houses where they had been hid- 
den in the cellars for weeks. At nine in the morning, a 
number of vehicles accompanied by some members of the 
League of the Eepublican Union, arrived from the Palace 
of Industry to assist the population in removing their 
goods. A large number of Paris people took advantage 
of this opportunity to try and visit the scene of destruc- 
tion. The armistice nominally commenced at nine ; but 
for several minutes by Paris time shots continued to fall 
in the vicinity of Porte Maillot, greatly to the indignation 
of the committee appointed by the Commune to receive 
the refugees, who thought time should have been given 
them to reach the gate by nine o'clock. 



170 THE PARIS COMMUNE. 

Idle curiosity-seekers were much disappointed at not 
being- allowed to pass through the Maillot gate. Some 
who approached too near were compelled to fill sand-bags, 
and assist the insurgents in repairing the fortification, 
which they continued to do during the whole day. Not- 
withstanding this their journals on the following morning 
were loud in their complaints against the Versailles troops 
for doing the same. 

The armistice was under the surveillance of four mem- 
bers of the Eepublican League. Two were delegated by 
the insurgents and two by the army of Versailles. The 
first were M. Bonvalet, ex-mayor of the third arrondisse- 
ment, and M. Stupuy, homme de lettres ; the second were 
M. Adam and M. Loiseau-Pinson, both former members 
of the municipality. Tlieir mission was to denounce any 
movement of troops breaking the essential conditions of 
the armistice. 

The inhabitants of Neuilly, who consisted mostly of 
women and children, timidly ventured into the outer 
world, anxiously inquiring if an armistice had really com- 
menced. Most of them knew nothing of what had taken 
place, not having seen daylight for three weeks, and only 
venturing out in the night to procure some bread and 
wine ; all were suffering from a fearful state of mental ex- 
citement. One day the insurgents were in possession of 
the houses over their heads, the next day the Versailles 
troops. Nearly all the ruins were filled with dead insur- 
gent troops, more or less in a state of decomposition; 
most of them had received bullet-shots through the head, 
killed in the act of firing over barricades or through loop- 
holes. 

The feeling of the troops was one of great irritation 
against the Parisians. 

Scarcely a house in the Grand Armee had escaped, 
those nearest the ramparts being all in ruins. Beyond 



QUAREELS OF THE COMMUNE. 171 

the gate the destruction of property was even greater, for 
in that part the houses were not only damaged, but most 
of them were literally levelled with the ground. 

The troops from Versailles formed a lino across the 
Avenue de Neuilly, at the point which marked the por- 
tion of the village they occupied, and beyond which the 
inhabitants residing in that direction were not allowed to 
go. On the other hand, those living beyond the line of 
demarcation could only return to Paris through the lat- 
eral streets and the gates of Bineau and Ternes. 

At half-past four in the afternoon the insurgents formed 
a cordon across the Avenue de la Grande Armee, and ad- 
vancing in the direction of the Arc de Triomphe, pushed 
before them the crowd, as the armistice was to cease at 
five. The spectators were reluctant to retire, anxious to 
hear the first shot announcing the recommencement of 
hostilities. At eight o'clock the guns of Porte Maillot 
and Ternes were again heard. The southern forts con- 
tinued to fire during the day. A reconnaissance made 
from Fort Yanves discovered that a new battery had been 
established by the Versailles troops 300 yards below the 
plateau. Several small engagements occurred on the side 
of Billancourt, but without any definite result. 

The sittings of the Commune were becoming daily 
more boisterous. The " Citoyen " E^gere had given the 
" Citoyen " Vermorel the lie. The " Citoyen " J. B. Clem- 
ent had demanded the arrest of Citoyen Felix Pyat, be- 
cause the latter had threatened to resign. A sharp quar- 
rel had also arisen between Pyat and Vermorel, and hard 
names were not spared on either side ; the epistles inter- 
changed being alike remarkable for their bitterness and 
difi'aseness. The Cri du Peuple gave a letter from the 
last-named member accusing the former of cowardice, and 
aflBrming that the failure of the attack on the Hotel-de- 
Ville the 31st of October, arose solely from his being afraid 



173 THE PARIS COMMUNE. 

to come forward and assert liis position manfully. After 
relating several incidents in Pyat's conduct in latter times, 
the writer said, " Your game is easily^ divined ; you were, 
on the one hand, endeavoring to preserve your popularity, 
in case the people should prove victorious ; and, on the 
other, you reserved to yourself a hack-door hy which to 
escape prosecution, should Versailles have the supe- 
riority." 

The letter terminated by declaring that the writer 
would not abuse his advantage so far as to defy his adver- 
sary to place himself at the head of the tenth legion the 
first time that it went out to fight, but challenged him to 
appear before a meeting of electors. Pyat, in consequence 
of the pressure brought to bear upon him, determined to 
keep his seat. 

The following ofiicial circular was addressed to the 
Prefects of the various departments in France : 

" Veesailles, April 2G, 2:50 p. m. 

"Active operations were commenced yesterday. Three 
great lines of batteries opened their fire against Forts 
Vanves and Issy. The line on the right, having to bear 
the fire of both Yan^s and of Issy, sustained the loss of 
some lives and some injury to embrasures, but its contin- 
uous working was not affected. The line of the centre, 
which mounted seventeen guns of heavy calibre, had no 
wounded nor any of its pieces injured, and maintained a 
formidable cannonade against Fort Issy. From midday 
its fire assumed a marked superiority over that of Fort 
Issy, which at five o'clock ceased to send in return more 
than a few shots at rare intervals. On the left the action 
was less warm on both sides. The main contest rested 
with the centre line, and there was every reason to believe 
that Fort Issy would soon be reduced to silence and ren- 
dered powerless. It is for the moment an artillery com- 



THE GUNBOATS AT WORK. 173 

bat, of which the issue cannot be doubtful, and of the 
progress of which we will give exact accounts. 

"A. Thiers." 

The interest of the fighting was once more transferred 
to the left bank of the Seine. The Versailles batteries 
had heretofore replied but feebly to the continued provo- 
cations of the southern forts, and had remained on the 
defensive, or fired only to cover the movement of their 
troops. On the 26th, however, they commenced the 
offensive, and by a converged fire upon Issy reduced it 
to silence. The cannonade was kept up from seven bat- 
teries — one at Chatillon, three in the woods beyond the 
railway, and three others around the Palace of Meudon. 
The insurgents attempted in vain to reply from the sta- 
tion of Clamart, from the Molineaux, and from several of 
the bastions ; the ghells continued to rain down on the 
parapets of the fort, and each explosion could be seen to 
raise up clouds of dust and smoke. The gunboats on the 
Seine, however, rendered efficient aid to the insurgents. 
Six of these vessels were at anchor beneath the arches of 
the railway viaduct, which almost completely sheltered 
them from the Versailles artillery. A seventh, the Lib- 
erty, smaller than the rest, of a light draught of water, 
and carrying an enormous cannon, advanced in the di- 
rection of Bas-Meudon, discharged its gun, and then 
retired beneath the viaduct to reload. 

The regular forces, during the day, pushed forward their 
outposts on this side of Bagneux, and below Chatillon to 
Clamart. On all points were engineers at work, advancing 
step by step, piercing holes for musketry in the houses 
and walls, digging trenches, and constructing redoubts. 
All the previous attacks against the forts were evidently 
intended only to mask the works of approach. The 
troops were repairing their batteries, and had now leisure 



174 THE PAEIS COMMUTE. 

for a serious attack. One important point •whicli they 
occupied was the Moulin-de-Pierre, where they had put 
heavy guns in position, Avithin five hundred yards of fort 
Vanves. 

To the west of Paris, the firing became quite sharp 
during the afternoon, especially between the insurgent 
batteries at Clichy and the redoubt of Gennevilliers. The 
troops of the Commune evidently appeared to fear a turn- 
ing movement towards Argenteuil, and occupied the banks 
of the Seine opposite the island of St. Ouen. 

A most amusing incident occuiTed on the Boulevard 
Bineau, while the insurgents were employed in making 
the reconnaissance of a barricade. A young bugler, fifteen 
years of age, marched some fifty feet in advance of a com- 
pany of insurgents. He was full of life and fun, and 
as he marched would often turn somersets, still j^laying 
his fantastic airs. Thinking the barricade deserted, he 
leaped upon the top, continuing to play, when suddenly 
he felt himself dragged down by the legs on the other 
side. He had fallen into an ambuscade of regular soldiers. 
They immediately wrenched from him his clarion to pre- 
vent his giving the alarm to the approaching insurgents ; 
but quick as lightning the young athlete was on top of 
the barricade, leaving everything but his shirt in the 
hands of his captors. 

" Halt ! " he cried to the approaching soldiers, " I am a 
prisoner!*^ The troops, finding themselves discovered, 
opened fire on the advancing victims. The captain, who 
marched at the head, fell mortally wounded. Several 
others met with the same relentless fate, while the balls 
rattled like hail around the young scamp, who sometimes 
with his head in the air and sometimes his feet, reached 
an open door in the neighborhood, and disappeared. They 
had hardly arrived at the door of the house, which was 
six stories high, when they heard a voice from the roof: 



LOISTDOK JOURNALS OK THE WAE. 175 

^' Eh! let-has! mon clairon, s'il vous plait !" ("Hollo, 
down there ! — my bugle, if you please ! ") 

He liad saved the lives of nearly his whole company, 
and was now disappearing along the roofs like lightning. 

The Commune held a secret sitting on the 27th, and 
the meeting was said to be a most stormy one. The actual 
situation was under discussion. Several members affirmed 
that the position was no longer tenable, and that the last 
elections had superabundantly proved the small amount 
of confidence inspired by the Commune. Other members 
manifested a desire to abandon the rude task which they 
had undertaken, whilst not a few spoke of the disastrous 
condition of the municipal strong-box, and of the finan- 
cial embarrassments about to rise. 

A meeting of the Freemasons was also held in the 
Chatelet theatre, and a resolution voted declaring that, as 
the Government of Versailles had refused to accord the 
Communal liberties of Paris, the brotherhood would em- 
ploy every means in its power to obtain them. 

Tlie Temps, a newspaper appearing at St. Germain, 
published an excellent series of remarks on the severity of 
the London journals with respect to the Government of 
Versailles and the conduct pursued against the Commune. 
It also explains why so much delay had been absolutely 
necessary for the success of M. Thiers' plan. 

" "We were curious," says the writer, " to see how the 
English journals would judge the Paris insurrection. "We 
have just read them, and that sentiment has been quickly 
changed into one of disgust. It would be diflEicult to 
show more ignorance of facts, more incapacity to compre- 
hend a situation, and, at the same time, more presumption 
and malevolence of judgment. "We could conceive that 
foreigners should feel embarrassed in presence of a crisis 
of which the causes have no analogy with the state of any 



176 THE PAEIS COMMUNE. 

other people ; but what we do not understand is the assu- 
rance with which the journahsts of London explain to us 
what is taking place in our own country, and point out 
to us the best means of getting out of the difficulty. The 
w^hole, watered with crocodile tears, forms a picture at the 
same time melancholy and burlesque." 

After some shai*p comments on the language of several 
organs published in London, the article proceeds thus : 

"We are indebted for this bright school of literature to 
the military correspondents. A civil war is a war like 
any other, and so a journal dispatches to Paris or Ver- 
sailles a man who has perhaps taken out his university 
degree, who has even travelled on the Continent, but who 
carries about everywhere with him that thick armor of 
British notions by means of which he is sure of never 
entering into real contact with the spirit of the nations 
he visits. That gentleman displays the most praise- 
worthy activity ; he shrinks from no fatigue, or even dan- 
ger, to obtain information for the paper which he repre- 
sents ; but he necessarily remains outside the political 
world ; he only sees the external and military side of events, 
and the same individual who might have been well placed 
for the siege of Paris by the Germans, is completely 
bewildered amidst the events now passing on the same 
theatre. But what is most remarkable in the journals to 
which we refer, is the absence of sj'mpathy for the party 
of order and for the Government of France, all having a 
weakness for the Commune. 

'•' All agree to cover M. Thiers with contempt and ridi- 
cule for not having long ago put an end to the insurrec- 
tion. He should have crushed it in the bud, they say; 
his weakness and indecision has given strength to the 
rebellion ; all his policy consists in waiting for he knows 
not what ; he has no fixed object in view. M. Thiers has 



A DEFENCE OF M. TIIIEES. 177 

a plan, but one like Trochu's, so profound and so secret, 
that not the smallest trace of it is ever perceived. The 
journalists who write thus prove only one thing — that 
they are ignorant of the very rudiments of the question. 
The insurrection from the commencement was formidable 
and irresistible, because from the first it was supported by 
an armed force, ready organized, namely, the National 
Guard of Paris ; whilst the Government, on its side, had 
at its command but few troops, and these were of a class 
which events have proved could not be relied on with en- 
tire confidence. For that reason, it became necessary to 
withdraw to Versailles, weed out the disposable forces, 
assemble those which the country could spare, await the 
return of the prisoners from Germany, amalgamate all 
those elements in new cadres, provide for the equipment 
and armament of the men, and gradually re-establish dis- 
cipline and confidence. All this had to be done, and was 
done, with a rapidity for which it would be unjust not to 
give the Government credit. The siege of Paris, since 
the city had to be taken by force, could not be effected 
with thirty thousand men, nor even with fifty thousand. 
It is only now, after five weeks of incessant organization, 
that the army has attained the strength considered neces- 
sary, and it is only now that the Government is in a 
position to strike a decisive blow." 

The morning of the 27th opened with a most violent 
attack on the forts south of Paris, and continued all day 
without interruption. The cannonade was most terrific 
from Moulin-de-Pierre, Chatillon, and Meudon ; and the 
bombardment of Montrouge and Issy was commenced 
with a violence of which the first siege gave but a faint 
idea. Issy, although dismantled, and, in spite of its 
escarpes tumbling into the ditch, and its ruined barracks, 
still fought with desperation, throwing shells on the 



178 THE PAEIS C0MMr2>rE. 

Tour-des-Anglais, Clamart, and Meudon. Fort Mont- 
rouge, although not yet reduced to silence, was very near 
that extremity. It was abeady seriously damaged by the 
Prussian bombardment, and the batteries of the regular 
army were completing the ruin. The insurgents, how- 
ever, continued to hold out, although the position was 
scarcely tenable, as they knew that its fall Avould inevitably 
lead to that of Vanves and Iss3^ 

The Versailles Government had in position on the 
Terrasse de Meudon, Chatillon, at the station Meudon, 
Bellevue, and vicinity, 150 guns of large calibre. These 
different batteries were placed under the charge of General 
Berckheim, an artillery officer of the first rank, and served 
by artillerymen of the 2d corps. On the night of the 
26th and 27th, while a fearful cannonade was going on. 
General Faron, with four companies of the 35th infantry 
and 300 men of the lOOtli and 110th Marine Fusiliers, 
carried the station and callage of Les Moulineaux iia a most 
brilliant manner. This important position immediately 
to the west of Issy, and just under the fort, was one of 
the highest importance; as it stood not over 900 yards 
distant from the walls and from the Moulineaux, it was 
possible to reach the Park of Issy, which inclined towards 
the Seine, and escape the fire of the fort. The regulars 
had already occupied Bas Meudon and Bellevue; and 
from this new position musketry fire could be brought to 
bear on the garrison of the fort. Hitherto the position 
had been held by two battalions of insurgents, and with 
two pieces of field artillery they were able to cause con- 
siderable annoyance to the troops. 

The insurgents made an abortive attempt during the 
day on Choisy-le-Eoi. They advanced under cover of a 
fire from Fort Bicetre, but were received with mitrailleuses 
and musketry from the soldiers under General Barrail. 

The attack on Neuilly was again resumed with increas- 



DESPERATE FIGHTING. 179 

ing violence. A new battery from Mont Valerien opened 
fire on the ramparts of Maillot and Ternes. The former 
received about a dozen projectiles, which enlarged con- 
siderably the breach in the left bastion. While shots 
were being continually exchanged between the outposts, 
laborers were engaged on the additional works of defence 
in Neuilly and Levallois. The barricades held by the 
soldiers, however, impeded seriously these counter ap- 
proaches; and frequent attempts had been made on pre- 
ceding days to drive the troops beyond the bridge. A still 
more serious attack was attempted in the afternoon. Ten 
battalions v/ere engaged, and advanced, six from Les 
Ternes, and four from Clichy. For three-quarters of an 
hour the noise of the cannon and fusillade was intense 
along the whole line of the Seine from the Bois de 
Boulogne, v/here the sentinels of the two armies were 
shooting each other down at fifty paces distance, to the 
bridge of Clichy, where the insurgents had established a 
battery. The Communists attacked the barricade boldly; 
but each time the troops found that they were in danger 
they retreated into the houses, and then going along the 
passage made by openings in the walls, reformed two 
hundred yards in the rear, and with their mitrailleuses 
rendered the captured barrier untenable. The insurgents 
at length were, as usual, fatigued with this fruitless 
struggle, and retired to their former positions. Great 
concentrations of troops were made in the villages to the 
west of Paris ; and the soldiers finding no longer quarters 
in the houses, were encamped in the streets and gardens. 
Further to the north a cannonade was carried on warmly 
by the iron-clad locomotive batteries on the right bank on 
the Chateau of Becon, and the bastions at the Fortes de 
Clichy and de St. Ouen on Gennevilliers. The Versailles 
troops, however, only replied from the guns at Becon, 
which had for their aim the insurgent batteries at the 



180 THE PARIS COMMUNE. 

bridge of Asnieres. The projectiles from the Porte de 
Clichy were directed sometimes to the battery at the 
junction of the St. Germain and Versailles railways, and 
sometimes to the neighborhood of the Moulin de la Tour. 

The official organ of the Commune published a decree 
commanding the various railway companies to pay Avithin 
forty-eight hours two millions of francs, which, according 
to the Commune, was due the State. An order was also 
published declaring that in consequence of the gallant 
conduct of the battery at the Porte Maillot, the delegate 
of the Commune at the War Department accords to the 
men composing it thirty revolvers. It was also announced 
that the gates for the victualling of Paris would be opened 
at five in the morning, and closed at seven in the evening. 

At the sitting of the Commune, Citizen Vesinier read a 
report from Citizens Langevin, Gambon, and himself, who 
were all three delegated to Bicetre to make inquiry about 
four National Guards of the 185th battalion. He and his 
two associates Avent there accompanied by Citizen Raoul 
Eigault, Procurator for the Commune, and Leo Meillet. 
They all paid a visit to Scheffer, of the above-mentioned 
battalion. The man — who was in the sick-ward — declared 
that on the 2oth instant, at Belle-Epine, near Villejuif, he 
was surprised, with three of his comrades, by some 
mounted chasseurs, who summoned them to surrender. 
As resistance was useless, they accordingly threw down 
their arms, and the soldiers surrounded and took them 
prisoners without any violence or menace. Only a few 
moments had elapsed Avhen a captain of chasseurs came 
up and threw himself upon them, revolATT in hand. He 
fired at one of them without saying a word, and killed 
him on the spot; he then discharged another barrel at 
Scheffer, who received a ball in the chest, and fell by the 
side of his comrade. The two remaining guards recoiled 
with horror from this assault ; but the ferocious captain 




COURBET 

Commune of Pans 

187 1 



THIERS STATES HIS POSITION?-. 181 

rushed on the prisoners, and killed them with two other 
shots. 

The chasseurs, after these acts, withdrew with their 
chief, leaving the victims on the plain. 

After their dej)artui-e SchefFer rose, and with a desperate 
effort succeeded in reaching his battalion, encamped at 
some distance. His state was such as to warrant hopes 
of ultimate recovery. 

The writers of the report proposed to use reprisals, and 
to kill all the officers that fell into their hands. After 
some discussion, the decision was taken to ascertain the 
number of the regiment to which the officer belonged, 
and the name of the officer) and publish them in Paris. 

Citizen Courbet called on the Commune not to delay 
the demolition of the column in the Place Yendome. 
The pedestal, he thought, could be preserved, as the sub- 
ject represented there concerned the first Republic. Citi- 
zen Clement insisted on the total destruction of the mon- 
ument. Citizen Andrieu stated that the Executive Com- 
mittee was occupied with the matter, and the operation 
of destroying the pillar would commence in a few days. 

The charge having been brought against M. Thiers 
that he wished to destroy the Eepublic, establishing in 
its place a monarchy, his remarks in the Chamber on the 
27th will be most appropriate in this place : 

M. Thiers. — " At the present serious conjuncture, and 
at the moment when the country is about to elect its 
Municipal Councils, I think right to briefly describe the 
situation to this Assembly, its only legitimate and com- 
plete representation. Our state is no doubt most painful, 
as the blood of Frenchmen is flowing, but, in one respect, 
it is consolatory, as showing that all are doing their duty — 
the army especially — and thus is foreshadowed a not dis- 
tant termination of the crisis. (Applause.) Our first task 



182 THE PAEIS COMMUNE. 

was to create a strongly-organized military force wliicli 
should be influenced as little as possible by the strange 
circumstances in which we are placed. We took the men 
who have shown themselves superior to the hazards of 
fortune, and who have proved that if they had been well 
commanded, France would not have been vanquished, but 
victorious. (Hear, hear.) In accord with my colleagues, 
I did not hesitate to call to the head of the army that brave 
Marshal who in our time may be called also the knight 
without fear and without reproach, and who, even in mis- 
fortune, has been able to defy calumny. (Applause.) I 
should fail in my duty, were I to disclose the plan of the 
military chiefs who direct the'army. I therefore only say 
that it has been decided on in concert with all the generals 
who surround our illustrious chief The investment of 
Paris occupied the first period ; but now that it is com- 
plete, active operations have been commenced before Fort 
Issy. Our artillery, although opposed by the powerful 
guns abstracted from the country, is continuing its works 
of approach, and only last night, the brave General Faron, 
at the head of 100 naval fusileers, 300 soldiers of the 110th 
Eegiment of the Line, and four companies of the 35th, 
carried the important position of the Moulineaux with 
such rapidity, that the loss they have suffered was ex- 
tremely small. (Applause.) I should be rash, were I to 
try and fix a date for the result at which we aim — the 
pacification of the country. Whatever may be the means 
employed, they will be painful ; and whether we impede 
the victualling of the capital, or fire on that Paris which 
is always so dear to France, our heart will bleed. But 
we appeal to the judgment of the ' country : Are we 
the authors of this cruel war? (No, no.) Even in at- 
tacking, we defend the law, public order, and society. 
(Applause.) Each day the word conciliation is addressed 
to me, as your representative. Ah ! if it only depended 



WUO A HE THE REPUBLICANS? 183 

on me ; if oulj my pride or my personality was in ques- 
tion, what sacrifices would I not make to put an end to 
this terrible war ! (Here the yoice of the speaker faltered 
with emotion — Sensation.) But to those numerous en- 
voys who come from Paris and other great towns, what 
reply can we make hut this : You wish for liberty ; but 
are we not defending it against an odious despotism, with- 
out authority, originating in disorder, and doing evil with 
a disastrous ignorance. (Applause.) I have said to those 
men, in the belief that I was expressing your ideas : — You 
wish for the maintenance of the Kepublic ; in the Assem- 
bly there is not at this moment any preconceived decision 
or mental reservation, and being invested with all the 
constituent powers, it has respected what it found estab- 
lished. Appointed by electors, the greater part of whom 
are partisans of the Monarchy, has it made the slightest 
attempt to change the form of Government ? No. It 
It has had the wisdom to respect what it found ; its mem- 
bers are occupied with only one idea — to aid the Govern- 
ment in pursuing its mission, which is, not to constitute, 
but to organize France. I give to the insurgents the most 
formal denial when they say that we are plotting against 
the Eepublic. There is but one conspiracy against it, 
that which is at Paris. (Loud applause.) We are also 
told to be clement ! I have said. Let the insurgents lay 
down their arms, and all chastisement will at once be 
stayed. The only exception will be for the criminals, 
happily few in number. (Murmurs on the right.) Am I 
wrong ? Do you regret that the guilty men. are not more 
numerous. (No ! no !) Is there not, in our misfortune, 
reason for satisfaction that such men as those who shed 
the blood of Generals Clement-Thomas and Lecomte are 
rare in our country." (Hear, hear ! ) 
A Member. — " And the army ?" 



184 THE PAEIS COMMUTE. 

M. Thieks. — " I am glad of this interruption, for it al- 
lows me to certify a fact. The army is calumniated by 
those who say that there are many soldiers in the ranks 
of the insurgents, as the number, we are certain, is very 
inconsiderable. Certain of the insurgents had found in 
the warehouses soldiers' uniforms, and dressed up a great 
number of their own followers in them, so as to lead the 
world to believe that the number of troops deserting their 
duty was important, whereas there were few. (Applause.) 
There are also several foreigners, and many wretches who 
watched for every oj)portunity of creating disorder ; but 
they were isolated, and would not, in the end, find any 
honest man to follow them. I have need to examine my- 
self when forced to give orders, not cruel, but such as are 
required by a state of war ; and I am sometimes obliged 
to ask if you think with me — (yes, yes!) — and if reason 
is really on ray side, (l^oise on the Eight.) If any of 
my colleagues are ill-disposed enough to prevent me from 
explaining my ideas, let them put forth their own plans — 
(applause) — and if they think they are surer of success, 
let them take my place, which I will readily resign. (No, 
no ; speak, speak.) I feel no want of confidence, but I 
may be allowed to express my affliction, and indicate the 
cause of it. 

" You may, perhaps, imagine that I preside over the 
horrors of a civil war with sang-froid. I do so with a 
firm resolution, but with a sentiment of grief whicli 
equals my determination. As to the matter of right, I 
believe that we are all agreed on the great principles that 
we defend. (Assent.) This Assembly is the most liberal 
one that I have ever seen ; it is, I confess, more liberal 
than I am myself. But what do we see arrayed against 
us ? A few odious dictators v/ho dominate a short-sighted 
and besotted multitude, and lead it under fire. Yes — the 
right is with you ; and against you there is only a detested 



THE DEMANDS OF THE COMMUNE. 185 

usurpation. If we have had different opinions on certain 
questions, we have sacrificed them to the exigencies of the 
moment; and as to our opponents, I defy them to say 
what they want. They are forced to conceal their aims. 
They require that the Commune should be sovereign ; that 
every town should have its republic, its army, and its gen- 
eral — 36,000 republics! This is the most absurd contra- 
diction ever given to the French Eevolution and national 
unity, the work of ten centuries. Our object, on the con- 
trary, should be to conciliate that unity with the greatest 
share of liberty possible. I repeat that there is no other 
conspiracy than that which has led to such sanguinary 
results in Paris. As to those who shall lay down their 
arms, their lives will be safe ; and they who shall be in 
want of bread will receiA^e it till work can be resumed. If 
the malcontents have not sense enough to understand my 
words, we shall accomplish our duty to the end, however 
bitter may be the task." (Great applause.) 

The bombardment of Fort Issy was continued on the 
28tli with still more severity. A battery of naval guns 
had been opened at Breteuil, and of 24-pounders near 
Moulin-de-Pierre. The insurgents had done their best 
during the night to repair the damage of the previous day, 
but the fort could reply but feebly. The guns in the 
Park, however, being well protected, kept up a brisk fire 
on the positions of the Versailles artillery, which, in its 
endeavor to reach the battery, concealed by a clump of 
trees, sent several shells into the village ; one unfortu- 
nately entered the asylum and killed an old woman in her 
bed. The fort of Vanv^s, which was less seriously dam- 
aged, also exchanged shots with the plateau of Chatillon, 
and fired from time to time on the terrace of Meudon. A 
sharp engagement of outposts took place early in the 
morning at Clamart, where the insurgents were strongly 



186 THE PARIS COMMUNE. 

intrenched around the railway station. A yast barricade 
armed with several cannon protected the building which 
commanded the line ; smaller defences were raised on each 
side of the embankment ; the walls were pierced for mns- 
ketry, and all the openings were filled up with mattresses 
or bags of earth. The centre of combat was, however, at 
the station. The afiair ended without any perceptible 
results on either side. 

The most severe fighting to the west of Paris was on the 
Boulevard du Chateau. Three successive combats took 
place there at six in the morning, and at three and five in 
the afternoon, but without any positive advantage to 
either side, only entailing a useless sacrifice of life. The 
number of victims in these incessant encounters was diffi- 
cult to ascertain, as the gates were closed so that no fugi- 
tives should spread the alarm to the city ; the killed and 
w^ounded were only removed at night, and the battalions 
which returned from the villages outside were confined to 
the barracks, and not allowed to mention what had taken 
place. The bastions at the gates of Clichy and St. Ouen, 
continued their fire on Grennevilliers with the object of 
impeding the movement of the troops. An iron-clad loco- 
motive battery on the railway was also firing at the Chateau 
de Becon. 

A barricade was erected on the Boulevard Malesherbes 
to support the Porte d'Asnieres in case of attack. During 
the whole of the 28th Mont Valerien kept up a fire on the 
Porte Maillot, sending shells at the rate of two a minute. 

Citizen Bergeret, who had been released from prison, 
was appointed a member of the War Committee as a 
deputy to Citizen Delescluze. 

As General Cluseret's power approached its zenith, so 
did his orders and proclamations increase. By one he 
divided the insurgent forces into two chief commands — 
one extending from St. Ouen to the Point-du-Jour, under 



A MEETIKG OF FEEE M A S NS. 187 

General Dombrowski, who had his headquarters at I^a- 
Muette ; and the other reaching from the Point-du-Jour 
to Bercy, and commanded by General Walbrewski, whose 
headquarters were at Gentilly. The two armies were each 
subdivided into three sections. 

Another, that as constant changes in the officers of the 
National Guard were most unfavorable to strict discipline, 
each person regularly elected would be provided with a 
commission guaranteeing to him his post. Any person 
wearing an officer's uniform and not provided with such 
an authority, would be arrested and imprisoned. 

Another order said that certain abuses, expensive for 
the Commune, must be put a stop to. Various officers, 
thinking of nothing but handsome swords and gold lace, 
when afterwards rejected by their men, withdraw with 
their arms, which, however, no longer belong to them. 
Heads of legions are charged with having such property 
returned to the central storehouses. 

On the evening of the 28th of April a meeting of the 
Presidents of the Freemason Lodges was held at their 
usual place of assembling, Kue Cadet, to come to some 
understanding on the subject of the public demonstration 
announced for the next morning in favor of the Commune. 
Thirty-four persons were present, and the great majority 
decided that the proceedings of certain brothers of the 
order of the Chdtelet were altogether personal, and in 
direct opposition to the principles of Freemasonry ; that, 
in the absence of any former decision either of the Grand 
Orient of France or of the Supreme Council, the mani- 
festation fixed for the next day was in like manner 
irregular, and that the responsibility of the incidents 
which might occur was completely individual. A notice 
to the above effect was published by the Presidents in the 
various journals, as well as a letter from Ernest Hamel, 
ex-venerable of the Lodge Avenir, expressing his surprise 



188 THE PAEIS COMMUJSTE. 

and affliction that any body of Freemasons should have 
presumed to declare that " Masonry would plant its banner 
on the ramparts of Paris, and in case of its being pierced 
by a ball would in a body take part in the struggle." 
Such a declaration, the writer affirmed, was in entire 
opposition to the tenets of the order, the mission of which 
always was to forward conciliation and peace. 

The following letter, from the highest dignitary of the 
Masonic order in the French capital, was sent to several 
of the journals : 

"You have announced that the Supreme Council of 
Freemasons would hold a meeting on Monday. If you 
had specified the hour and place, I should have felt that 
my duty required me to attend. But no convocation 
having been made, /, as guardian of the general regula- 
tions, protest against all resolutions taken independently 
of the Grand Central Lodge of France ; and I remind my 
brothers that Masons are hound to fight only against a 
foreign invader. 

" Accept, etc., 

"F. Malapeet, 

" Orator of the Supreme Council." 

This document emanated from the sole voice that had 
a right to be heard, and was a warning to the brother- 
hood, and a piece of useful information to the public. 

Notwithstanding the above, a large number of adherents 
of the Commune met at the Hotel de Ville on the morn- 
ing of the 29th, whence it had been announced that the 
entire body of Freemasons would start on a last pacific 
demonstration, to plant the banner of that body on the 
ramparts ; and should the Versailles troops dare to fire on 
it, the whole order would take up arms in defence of the 
Commune. 

At nine o'clock in the morning a cortege with flags and 




FELIA PYAT 
CommuRe of Pans 
1871 



RECEPTION or FREEMASON'S. 189 

music, led by five delegates of the Commune, left the 
Hotel de Ville to be joined on their way by the Free- 
masons, who were to return with them to the seat of 
government, which had been decorated for a solemn re- 
ception. At eleven o'clock the deputation returned with 
the Freemasons, and made their entrance into the Court 
of Honor of the Hotel de Ville, prepared in advance to 
receive them. The insurgent soldiers were formed in 
lines between which the procession passed. All the mem- 
bers of the Commune were placed at the top of the 
Escalier d'honneur, before the statue of the Eepublic. 
They were decorated with red scarfs, trimmed with gold. 
The galleries were adorned with trophies, flags, and olive 
wreaths, whilst the staircases and Court of Honor were 
fitted out with crimson carpets. The masonic banners 
were placed upon the stairway, where could be read the 
different humanitarian mottos. Among others was a 
large white banner, carried by an artilleryman, with the 
motto of " Love one another" As soon as the Court was 
full, immense shouts arose from every side: " Vive la 
franc-MaQonnerie ! " " Vive la Commune ! " " Vive la Re- 
puhlique Universelle ! " The Citizen Felix Pyat, member 
of the Commune, then pronounced, in a strong voice, the 
following address : 

"Brothers, citizens of the great country — of the uni- 
versal country — faithful to our common principles. Liberty, 
Equality, and Fraternity, and more logical than the Ligue 
des Droits de Paris. You, Freemasons — you follow your 
words with actions. 

" To-day words mean nothing — acts, everything ! Thus, 
after having posted your manifesto — manifesto of the 
heart — on the walls of Paris, you go now to plant your 
banner of humanity on the ramparts of our besieged and 
bombarded city. 



190 THE PARIS COMMUKE. 

"You go to j)rotest thus against homicidal balls and 
fratricidal bullets, in the name of right and of universal 
peace. (Unanimous bravos, and shouts of ' Vive la Re- 
'publique!^ ^ Vive la Gommune!') 

" You go to stretch out to the men of Versailles a dis- 
armed hand — disarmed, but only for the moment — and 
we, the mandataries of the people and the defenders of its 
rights; we, the elected by yote — we wish to join ourselves 
with you — ^the elected by ordeal in this fraternal act. 
(New ajjplause : ' Vive la Commune ! ' ' Vive la Repiiblique ! ') 

" The Commune had decided to choose five of its mem- 
bers who should have the honor to accompany you, and 
it was proposed that this honor should be drawn for by 
lot. Five favored names were thus designed to follow 
you, to accompany you in this glorious, victorious act. 
(Marks of approbation.) 

" Your act, citizens, will remain in the history of France 
and of humanity. 

" Long live the Universal Republic 1 " 

(Loud cries of " Vive la Commune ! " " Vive la Repub- 
lique!") 

The Citizen Beslay, member of the Commune : — " Citi- 
zens, I have associated myself, as you have done, with the 
words we have just heard, with those fraternal words 
which have caused all the Freemasons to assemble here. 

"Fate was not favorable to me yesterday, when the 
name of those members of the Commune who should go 
to receive the Freemasons, were drawn. We wished that 
the names should be drawn by lot, as from the very be- 
ginning the whole Commune of Paris wished to take part 
in this great manifestation ; I had not the honor of being 
designated, but I asked, nevertheless, to go before you as 
senior of the Commune of Paris, and also of the Freema- 
sonry of France, of which I have had the honor to be a 
member during fifty-six years. 



PEESEKTATIOK OP FLAGS. 191 

" What can I say to you, citizens, after the eloquent 
words of Felix Pyat ? You are about to commit a great 
act of fraternity in j)lacing your banner upon tlie ram- 
parts of our city, and in placing yourselves in the ranks 
against our enemies of Versailles. (Yes, yes! — bravos.) 

''Citizens, brothers: Permit me to give to one of you 
the fraternal embrace.*' 

(The Citizen Beslay embraces one of the Freemasons 
placed near him. Applause — " Vive la Commune I " " Vive 
la RepuUique ! ") 

A Freemason, banner in hand : — " I claim the honor of 
planting the first banner on the ramparts of Paris, the 
banner of Perseverance, which has existed since 1790. 
(Bravos.) 

The music of the battalion played La Marseillaise. 

Citizen Leo Meillet : — "You have just heard the only 
music to which we can listen before a definitive peace. 

"Here is the red flag which the Commune of Paris 
offers to the Masonic deputations. 

" This flag should accompany your pacific banners ; it 
is the flag of universal peace, the flag of our federative 
rights, around which we should all group ourselves to 
prevent, for the future, any hand, however powerful it 
may be, from throwing us one upon the other, except for 
an embrace. (Prolonged applause.) 

" It is the flag of the Commune of Paris, which the 
Commune is about to confide to the Freemasons. It will 
be placed in front of your banners, and before the homi- 
cidal balls of Versailles. 

" When you bring them back, these banners of Free- 
masonry, be they torn or intact, the flag of the Commune 
will not have failed. It will have accompanied them in 
the midst of the fire — it will be the proof of their insep- 
arable union." (Fresh applause.) 



192 THE PAEIS COMMUNE. 

The Citizen Terifocq took the red flag from the hands 
of Citizen Leo Meillet, and addressed to the assembly the 
following words : 

" Citizens, brothers : I am of the number of those who 
took the initiative to go and plant the standard of peace on 
our ramparts, and I have the happiness to see at our head 
the white banner of the Lodge of Yincennes, on which 
are inscribed these words : ' Let us love one another.' 
(Bravos.) 

" We will go and present first this banner to our ene- 
mies' ranks; we will stretch our hands to them, since 
Versailles will not hear us ! 

"Yes, citizens, brothers, we will address ourselves to 
the soldiers, and we will say : ' Soldiers of the same coun- 
try, come and fraternize with us; we will have no bullets 
for you so long as you send us none of yours. Come and 
embrace us, and let peace be made.' (Prolonged bravos — 
sensation.) 

" And if this peace is accomplished, we will return to 
Paris convinced that we have gained the most glorious 
victory — that of humanity ! 

" If, on the contrary, we are not heard, but are fired 
upon, we will call every vengeance to our aid. We are 
certain that we shall be heard, and that the Masonry of 
all the provinces of France will follow our example. We 
are sure that in whatever part of the country our brothers 
see troops directed upon Paris, they will go to meet them 
and call upon them to fraternize. 

" If we fail in our attempt for peace, and if Versailles 
gives the order not to fire upon us, but to kill only our 
brothers of the ramparts,. then we will mingle with them; 
we, who until now have taken service in the National 
Guard only as a service of order ; those who have hitherto 
not belonged to it; as well as those already in its ranks, 
and all together* we will join the companies of war, to 



A MASONIC DEPUTATION. 193 

take part in the battle, and to encourage by our example 
the brave and glorious soldiers — defenders of our city." 
(General adhesion — Applause — "Vive la Commune!" 
" Vive la Franc-ma^onnerie I ") 

The Citizen Terifocq, waving the flag of the Commune 
which he held in his hand, then cried : 

" Now, citizens, no more words — to action ! " 

The deputation of Freemasons, accompanied by the 
members of the Commune, then left the Hotel de Ville. 

While they defiled, the orchestra played La Marseil- 
laise. 

The procession having made the tour of the boulevards 
in a pouring rain, advanced to Port Maillot via the Champs 
Elysees and the Avenue de la Grande Armee, and planted 
their flags on the ramparts. A balloon was sent up at the 
same time with a proclamation from the Paris Masons to 
the provincial lodges, after which a body of their delegates, 
about forty in number, passed through the Porte Maillot, 
and advanced with a flag of truce to the barricade held by 
the Versailles troops at the bridge of Courbevoie. There 
they were met by General Leclerc, who conducted them 
to General Montaudon, commander of the operations at 
that point. He received them courteously, but declared 
that he was only the arm which executed orders given ; as 
he was, he added, a brother of the craft, he had taken it 
on himself to stop the fire when the Masonic banners 
were seen ; but he could only accord a brief delay. He 
thought their best plan would be to send forward a depu- 
tation to Versailles, and he would himself place a carriage 
at their disposal. The proposal having been accepted, 
three of the body immediately set out, and the others re- 
turned to the Porte Maillot, where a sort of an assembly was 
held, after which the Freemasons decided on not return- 



194 THE PARIS COMMUNE. 

ing to Paris, but to remain and guard their flags on the 
fortifications. 

The delegates were received by M. Thiers, who repHed : 
"There will be a few more houses shelled, and a few more 
men killed, but force must remain to the law." In answer 
to a communication afterwards sent to him, he declared 
that he had nothing to add to his previous reply. 

They were obliged to return to Paris on foot, owing to 
the impossibility of procuring fresh horses, and did not 
reach the gates until six in the morning. After making 
their report, the Freemasons decided that the banners 
should remain planted on the ramparts, and, if necessary, 
that the men who guarded them should fight for the 
Commune. 

On the following day, the Freemasons of all rites were 
invited to assemble in the Place de la Coucorde, at two in 
the afternoon, in order to go and take away their flags 
from the ramparts, the fire of the Versailles troops not . 
having shown them any respect. 

The army of Versailles followed up its advantage on 
Fort Issy. At about ten o'clock in the evening of the 
29th, the batteries of Meudon, Chatillon and Moulineaux 
commenced a most terrific converging fire on the fort, with 
scarcely any reply, as it Avas then only a mass of ruins. 
The casemates had been crushed in, and the walls levelled 
with the ground. Towards one o'clock the Versailles bat- 
teries stopped firing, and the regular troops suddenly fell 
upon the insurgents, who, surprised by the rapidity and 
fierceness of the attack, immediately fled in wild disorder, 
abandoning cannon, mitrailleuses and muskets. 

The losses on both sides were considerable, according 
to the insurgents' reports. The 161st battalion was nearly 
exterminated. At midnight, when the firing had nearly 
ceased, the Versailles troops were occupying part of the 
Park of Issy, and the station of Clamart. To the occu- 



ISSY REPORTED EVACUATED. 195 

pants of the fort the momentary respite was of little service, 
for their commander had disappeared, and all was confu- 
sion. Some officers endeavored to give directions for the 
repair of certain points, but they were not listened to. A 
few of the insurgents attempted to place sacks of earth in 
the gaps, but a discharge of chassepots wounded some and 
forced the rest to retire. It was in this state that the day 
broke. The whole morning was spent in altercation, some 
proposing an evacuation — others persisted in holding out 
to the last. 

After a violent altercation, the j>arty advocating the 
evacuation carried the day. There were about three hun- 
dred men in the fort. At ten o'clock another and final 
council was held in the midst of a shower of shells, and 
the final resolution was taken at eleven. The sailors 
spiked the guns, the northern gate was opened, and the 
insurgents, artillerymen and workmen, set out on their 
return to Paris. 

Some insurgents still remained, it was supposed v/ith 
the intention of blowing up the fort, as there was an 
abundance of powder. At half past eleven three superior 
officers left Paris by the Vaugirard gate, evidently with 
the intention of reoccupying the fort. The red flag was 
still flying above the ruins of the barracks. Several bat- 
talions of insurgents were now massed in the village of 
Issy, which lies between the fort and the Vaugirard gate, 
while fresh barricades were erected. Holes for musketry 
were pierced in the walls, and passages were made from 
house to house. The troops, in the mean time, were not 
inactive. Not venturing to penetrate into the fort, which 
they knew to be mined, they passed between it and Moli- 
neaux to a small wood on the right, while the light bat- 
teries were advanced to a spur of the plateau on which 
the fort is situated, and at three in the afternoon were 
ready to open fire on the ramparts. The cannonade soon 



19G THE PAKIS COMMUiTB. 

commenced, the guns bearing on the bastions sixty-eight 
and seventy-two. The inhabitants of Vaugirard, in fear- 
ful alarm, were quitting their houses to come into the 
city. 

The following official circular in regard to the affair 
was immediately telegraphed to the Prefects of the dif- 
ferent Departments. 

" Veesailles, 2:20 p. m. 

" The works of approach towards Fort Issy have con- 
tinued. The Government has received the following des- 
patches, which it hastens to publish : — ' Belair, 5:5, A.M. — 
General de Cissy to the Chief of the Executive. — A coup 
de main has been effected against the farm of Bonney, in 
front of Chatillon, by a company of the 70th regiment 
and the light company of the 71st. Two officers on the 
side of the insurgents were killed or wounded ; 71 prison- 
ers were taken, of whom four were officers. On our side 
two sergeants and two men were killed, and six wounded. 
Too great praise cannot be awarded to the troops engaged, 
especially to Captains Dumouchel, of the 70th, and Bro- 
issier, of the 71st. Details later.' 'Belair, 6:55 A. m. — 
Cissy to the Chief of the Executive Power and to Mac- 
Mahon at Versailles. — I have this moment received from 
General Faron the following despatch : — Eleury, 6 A. m. — 
The operations have been very successful. The cemetery, 
trenches, excavations, and the park of Issy were carried 
with great spirit by battalions of the brigades under Deroja, 
Paturel, and Berthe, with the aid of the Marines. We 
occupy in force positions in close contiguity to the main 
entrances to the fort. The park is connected with the 
railway by a trench passing in front of the cemetery. On 
our side there have been few killed. About 20 wounded. 
The insurgents, who were very numerous, retired with 
precipitation, leaving 100 prisoners, 8 pieces of artillery, 
and 8 horses.' A. Thiers.'^ 



GEKERAL CLUSEKET AE RESTED. 197 

The official journal of May 2d announced the astound- 
g intelligence that General Cluseret had been arrested 

by order of the Executive Committee, and approved by 

the C( 

ment 



ing intelligence that General Cluseret had been arrested 

y 

the Commune. The following was the official announce 



" Paris, May 1, 1871. 

" The negligence and want of precaution shown by the 
Delegate of the War Department having very nearly com- 
promised our possession of Fort Issy, the Executive Com- 
mittee determined to propose to the Commune the arrest 
of Citizen Cluseret. The arrest has been decreed. 

" The Commune, in addition, has taken all the mea- 
sures necessary for maintaining its possession of that 
stronghold." 

General Cluseret was thus dismissed from his command ; 
and that was not all — his arrest was ordered by the Ex- 
ecutive Committee and approved of by the Commune. 
But there was still something more. The public was in- 
formed that steps had been taken to appoint some one 
else in his place, and that measures of security had been 
adop.ted. That word gave rise to the wildest suppositions. 
Measures of security did not mean warlike preparations 
against an assault, but simj)lo precautions against treason. 

Many supposed it was Cluseret's intention to' betray the 
Commune ; but the real facfc no doubt was that the recent 
failure at Issy demanded a victim, and that that victim 
should be the Minister of War. On the night of the 30th, 
when the fort was on the point of surrendering, Megy, 
tlie commandant, was desirous of leaving the mass of 
ruins to its fate ; but General Wroblewski appeared upon 
the scene in time to relieve M6gy of his command. He 
was exasperated at what he called an act of treachery, 
and threatened to resign his command if the important 
ground of Issy was not confided to trusty hands. 



198 THE PARIS COMMUNE. 

General Eudes was then appointed commandant of the 
fort, with strict orders not to leave his post, to receive no 
flao- of truce, and to defend himself till death. 

It was General Clnseret, however, who first came to the 
rescue of the abandoned fort. When he heard of the 
panic he immediately sent forward the "Avengers of 
Paris " and other battalions which had not seen service . 
for some days. It was too late, however ; Generals Dom- 
browski and Wroblewski both sent in their resignations 
on account of Cluserefs mismanagement, but on hearing 
of his arrest withdrew them. 

The arrest took place at the Ministry of "War at G o'clock 
in the evening. The insurgent soldiers were all posted at 
the different outlets to the building. Two men without 
any other insignia than the red scarf entered his cabinet, 
one being the bearer of a warrant from the Commune. 
On seeing them the General is reported to have said: 
"For the last week I have been expecting this step, and 
am rather surprised that it has not been taken sooner. If 
I, had been guilty of what I am accused, that is to say, 
treason, I should not have waited for your coming." He 
was then taken in a carriage to the Conciergerie. His 
action threw the Commune into the greatest state of per- 
plexity, although the official organ announced the fact 
without commentary, as dryly as if General Cluseret had 
not been, during nearly a month, generalissimo of the 
armies of the Hotel de Ville. Had he been meditating a 
capitulation? Had he come to an understanding with 
the chiefs of Versailles ? Had he conceived, in fine, a 
coui^ d'etat 9 Did he wish to have himself proclaimed 
Proconsul, Protector, perhaps Emperor? These were 
questions which helped to agitate the already excited 
brains of the Parisians for several days. His arrest, how- 
ever, was in the natural order of things ; first M. Lullier, 
then M. Bergeret, and after the latter M. Ckiseret. One 
more victim, and the list was full. 




CLUSERET 
Commune of Pans 

1871. 



CHARACTER OF CLUSERET. 199 

The following description of General Cluseret is decid- 
edly true in regard to the feeling of security entertained 
by all Americans in Paris while he remained in power : 

" Cluseret, though, it is said, a naturalized American, 
is a soldier of a. very different type from such as Dom- 
browski. He has less of the capacity, probably, required 
by a general on the battle-field handling troops, but in 
the closet he is immeasurably superior. He is indefati- 
gably active, and of insatiate ambition, greedy of power to 
such excess that, as was said of Sir Eobert Walpole, he 
has preferred to risk losing it all rather than to sacrifice 
ever so little of it, and would rather see a too able man 
among his opponents than among his friends. He has 
gradually and steadily gathered all power into his own 
hands, and has made no secret of his resolution to resist 
and resent all interference on the part of laymen in what 
he considers the all-absorbing question of tlie moment — 
the effectual defence of Paris. He has rare firmness of 
character and few scruples. A Frenchman, who had the 
honor the other day of being his prisoner, narrated to me 
a very characteristic conversation which Cluseret had held 
with him. The General rather ridiculed the notion of 
private hostages being wanted by the Commune, when it 
held such infinitely more valuable hostages as, say, the 
banks of Paris, and professed his readiness to release all 
the prisoners, though he took care to guard himself against 
all suspicion of hesitating to take their lives. ' I don't 
want to take one life unnecessarily; but if at the last 
moment I should be called on to kill 10,000 people, I 
would rather make arrangements for killing 15,000, in 
order to be on the safe side, than run the risk of 
not killing the 10,000." He is, in fact, what one calls a 
thoroughly practical man, somewhat of the shrewd Yankee 
type ; and there is, perhaps, some foundation for the sus- 



200 THE PARIS COMMUIsrE. 

picion that at the last moment he would have been as 
ready to pocket $100,000 by surrendering Paris as to kill 
15,000 men in a desperate defence. Many people haye 
for some time been expecting a sorfc of coup cVetat on a 
small scale from him, and to see him for a few days abso- 
lute Dictator of Paris, with all our liyes and purses at 
his mercy. He is too sensible a man to have wantonly 
abused such power, though no doubt he would have used 
it freely enough for his own private advantages. We 
foreigners resident in Paris have some reason to regret 
him, as he has always displayed an extremely liberal 
policy towards us ; and since the war with Germany com- 
menced, foreigners, or at any rate. Englishmen and Amer- 
icans — about the members of other nations I know less — 
have never gone about Paris with so little annoyance or 
fear of arrest — except, indeed, from drunken ]^ational 
Guards, in violation of their duty — as during the last few 
weeks. With Frenchmen I need scarcely say the case has 
been reversed, but even they will have some reason to 
regret Cluseret's fall, except so far as it denotes the decline, 
through internal dissensions, of the power of the Com- 
mune." 

General Cluseret's vacant place was given to Colonel 
Eossel, formerly a captain of engineers, afterwards a com- 
mandant in the army of the Loire. He was only twenty- 
eight years of age, slight figure, pale, with light hair, 
and, like General Dombrowski, wore spectacles. He was 
a pupil of the Polytechnic School, and came out second 
in his class. He served General Cluseret as head of the 
staff, and was remarked for his activity and great intelli- 
gence. 

He acted as President of the Court-Martial, and was 
considered extremely severe. 

The following letter, sending his resignation to the Min- 



EOSSEL NOT A DESERTER. 201 

ister of War, only appeared in the Paris joiirnals July 19tli, 
although written on the 19th of March. It throws a new 
light on the character of the Generalissimo of the Com- 
mune, who, during the reign of that body, and long after 
his capture by the Versailles Government, was considered 
as a deserter. 

" Camp of Nevbks, March. 19, 1871. 

" A M. le Ge7ieral Ministrc de la Guerre a Versailles : 

" Geisteeal : — I have the honor to inform you that I 
am going to Paris to place myself at the disposition of the 
Government forces which may be constituted there. In- 
structed by a despatch of Versailles, rendered public to- 
day, that there are two parties at war in the country, I 
place myself Avithout hesitation on the side of those who 
have signed no peace, and who do not count in their ranks 
generals guilty of capitulation. 

'• In taking such a grave and sorrowful resolution, I 
have the regret to leave suspended the engineer service of 
the Camp of ]!S[evers, confided to me by the Government 
of the dth of September. I have placed this service, which 
consists at present only of orders for expenses and remit- 
tances of accounts, in the hands of Mr. Pinat, auxiliary 
commandant of engineering, an honest and experienced 
man, who remained under my orders by command of 
General Vergne, in virtue of your despatch of the 5tli of 
present month. 

" I inform you summarily, by a letter addressed to the 
bureau of war-materials, of the state in which I leave the 
service. 

" I have the honor to remain. General, your devoted 
and obedient servant, 

« EossEL." 

General Eossel received notification of his appointment, 
9* 



202 THE PARIS COMilUNE. 

and responded to the Executive Committee in the follow- 
ing letter : 

"Paris, 30tli April.* 

" Citizens : — I have the honor to acknowledge the re- 
ceipt of your letter charging me provisionally with the 
functions of Head of the War Department. 

" I accept the difficult task thus imposed upon me, but 
I require your most absolute co-operation in order not to 
succumb under the weight of present circumstances. 
" Salutation, and Fraternity, 

'•' KOSSEL." 

The new functionary at once issued two orders, one di- 
recting General Wroblewski to extend his command to the 
whole of the left bank of the Seine, both for the troops 
and the forts from Ivry to Issy ; and the other declaring 
the Citizen Gaillard, sen., was charged with the construc- 
tion of a second line of barricades immediately inside the 
fortifications, as well as a third at the Trocadero, Mont- 
martre, and the Pantheon. New barricades were also to 
be erected at four points on Place de la Concorde ; those 
at the corner of Rue Royale and Eue Eivoli to be veritable 
fortresses. Every one was put to work, and Eossel seemed 
to imbue the waning spirit of Paris with new life. 

The following remarkable correspondence was exchanged 
between the major commanding the trenches of the army 
of Versailles and Commandant Eossel, and posted on the 
walls of Paris, May 1st : 

" Tkenches before Fort Isst, April 30, 1871. 

" In the name of the Marshal commanding in chief, we. 
Major of the Trenches, call on the head of the insurgents 
collected in the Fort of Issy to surrender, with all his 
men, within the space of one quarter of an hour. 

" If the said commander declares, in writing, that he 



A SPIRITED LETTEK. 203 

and the rest submit without any other condition than to 
have their lives spared, and to be alloAved to live where 
they please except in Paris, that favor will be accorded 
them. 

" Should the said commander not reply affirmatively 
within the time mentioned above, the whole garrison 
shall be put to the sword. 

" E. Leperche, 

" Colonel of the Staff, Major of the Trenches." 

The insurgents demanded a half-hour to deliberate, at 
the end of which time they had not yet agreed ; a large 
majority indicating visibly a desire to put down their 
arms. The close of the day interrupted any further nego- 
tiations. The night was occupied by the insurgents in 
repairing the damage done and occupying the fort with 
fresh troops. 

In the morning the white flag was again hoisted from 
the fort, and the officers of the staff, in responding, found 
themselves in the presence of the famous Eudes, who de- 
clared that he would continue the resistance to the last — 
that the Commune did not wish to treat with "assas- 
sins." He also forwarded the subjoined mission from the 
new Minister of "War : 

Paeis, May 1, 1871. 

" To Citizen Leper die, Major of the Trendies before Fort 

Issy : 

" My Dear Comrade : — The next time that you ven- 
ture to send us so insolent a communication as your letter 
of yesterday, I will have your messenger shot, in conform- 
ity with the usages of war. 

" Your devoted comrade, 

" EOSSEL, 
" Delegate of the Commune of Paris." 

Eossel and Leperche had served together at Metz. The 



204 THE PAEIS COMMUNE. 

oflficial journal of the Commune announced on the 1st of 
May that a Committee of Public Safety had been organ- 
ized, composed of fiye members, who would possess the 
most extended powers over all commissions, and all the 
branches of the Government, and that the persons ■ com- 
posing it could not be called before any other jurisdiction 
than that of the Commune. 

Citizens Antoine Arnaud, Leo Meillet, Eanvier, Felix 
Pyat, and Charles Gerardin were appointed on this im- 
portant commission. 

What was to be the duration of this new power, or its 
particular attributes, was not known. The decree seemed 
to indicate that it was to replace the Executive Committee. 
The Delegate Eossel had asked the Commune for its most 
absolute co-operation as the price of his inestimable ser- 
vices. Doubtless the proof of that assistance was to be 
found in the creation of a Committee of Public Safety. 
Such a step was to be expected — first, because at the Hotel 
de Ville dictatorship was liked ; and second, because, fatally 
vowed, to an imitation of 1793, the natural result was that 
this word, and the thing itself, equally sinister, should be 
exhumed. 

The garrison of Fort Issy Avas noAV three times as strong 
as at the moment of the evacuation. The fire from the 
fort was, however, very feeble, as only four 24-pounders 
remained mounted. A barricade at the foot of the slope 
in front was also armed with two guns, and two American 
mitrailleuses, but it was of little avail except to defend the 
access to the village. The officers of the Commune, how- 
ever, appeared to be so sensible of the weakness of the 
whole position, that they established three guns on a small 
eminence outside the gate of Yaugirard. The re-occupa- 
tion of Issy was only temporary, to enable the insurgents 
to establish their heavy artillery on the ramparts. In the 
meantime, two of the insurgent gunboats were cannon- 
ading the heights of Meudon and Brimborion. 



SERIOUS JESTING. 205 

The new Delegate of War sent the subjoined letter to 
several Paris journals, the publication of which raised 
him considerably in the estimation of the populace : 

" I read with great regret the complicated fable which 
you had received relative to the retaking of Fort Issy. 
General Oluseret first entered it, accompanied by General 
Cecilia and Colonels Eobart and Wetzel, conducting there 
the 137th battalion, about three hundred strong, and 
which had lost a dozen men during the march. I must 
also formally deny the assertion that my predecessor at- 
tempted to excite some corps against the Commune. The 
General, who has always been friendly towards me, was 
absolutely incapable of doing anything of the sort, or even 
of thinking of it. 

" I feel bound not to make myself, by my silence, an 
accomplice in the malevolent rumors to which General 
Cluseret may be exposed 'in the imfortunate position in 
which he is placed, until the justice of the Commune has 
pronounced on his acts. 

" Accept, etc., etc., 

" ROSSEL." 

The bearer of Rossel's noted reply to the summons to 
surrender Fort Issy was a young man — an officer in the 
insurgent forces. 

" Do you know what this letter contains ? " asked Colo- 
nel Leperche. 

"No." 

" Well, it is an order to have you shot." 

" How is that ? " exclaimed the other. 

" Eead. According to Eossel, the bearer of an insolent 
letter is to be shot, and if ever one merited that qualifica- 
tion, it certainly is this. Therefore — " 

The unfortunate officer protested that he was ignorant 
of the contents ; but he was taken to General de Cissy, 



206 THE PARIS COMMUN"E. 

who, after having read the document, declared that, in 
fact, he could not help shooting the person who had 
brought it. The General, however, consented to have the 
young man sent to Versailles, where the cruel jesting 
which was to he his punishment was continued for some 
time. In the eAd, however, he received a good dinner, of 
which he stood greatly in need, and was afterwards offered 
his liberty, which he refused, preferring to remain in Ver- 
sailles sooner than return to Paris. 

The night of the 1st of May was witness to two very 
important affairs, namely, the capture of the station of 
Clamart and the Chateau of Issy by the Versailles troops. 
The station is an imj)ortant position, because it completely 
dominates the fort of Issy. 

At 11 o'clock, p. M,, the 22d battalion of chasseurs a 
pied of General Berthe's brigade, which had been lying 
in ambush since 8 o'clock, approached the station in deep 
silence.- " Qui vive?" cried the sentinel. " Tlie 22d lat- 
talion of National Guards ! " they replied, and rushed in 
with fixed bayonets. Two battalions of insurgents, and a 
company of Francs-Tireurs were in and about the sta- 
tion. The carnage for a short time was dreadful. Nearly 
two hundred insurgents were left dead on the spot, all 
killed by the bayonet and. sword. Little quarter was 
given, as there were numerous deserters found among 
their number. 

Almost at the same hour, two battalions of infantry 
belonging to the brigade of General de la Mariouse retook 
the Chateau of Issy. At this point the resistance was 
much more energetic than at the station of Clamart. The 
Chateau was first taken by the troops on the morning of 
the 30th, but during the negotiations of May 1st the in- 
surgents managed to repossess themselves of it. The 
Communists defended themselves with the most determ- 
ined bravery, and succeeded in making two hundred 



A DEFEAT OE IDSTSUKGENTS. 207 

and fifty prisoners. They also prepared to attack a bat- 
tery situated between the Chateau of Issy and the fort. 
The insurgents, with a considerable number of guns, im- 
mediately began to shell the station at Clamart and the 
Chateau of Issy. In consequence of this movement, 
which was calculated to inflict much damage on the 
troops, no time was lost in giving orders that all those 
batteries which were engaged against the Point du Jour 
should direct their fire in such a manner as to embarrass 
the insurgents in their attempt on the station and the 
Chdteau. General Faron sent forward the engineers, and 
he was soon able to announce to Marshal de MacMahon 
that all the new positions were in a state of defence. 

On the following morning, at daybreak, a column of 
three battalions issued from their intrenchments, and 
advanced against the Versailles outposts. The soldiers 
being in small numbers, fell back, and the insurgents con- 
tinued to push forward in the direction of Clamart, turn- 
ing all the obstacles, and avoiding the mitrailleuses. 
Reinforcements of the regular troops at length came up, 
and the insurgents, finding themselves in danger, com- 
menced a retreat, in which they were much hurried by 
the Government troops. Many of them tried to enter 
Paris by the Vaugirard gate, but the guard there refused 
to admit them, as the instructions given were not to 
allow any National Guard to pass. The fugitives outside 
threatened to fire on the insurgents at the gate, but did 
not carry out their menace, and were obliged to disperse 
in different directions. 

The news of this defeat soon becoming knov>^n at head- 
quarters, a much more powerful force was directed towards 
this point, where the resistance shown was truly re- 
markable, and of incomparable energy. The defenders 
of the fort used mat,tresses made of seaweed to resist the 
bullets which now had become more annoying than the 



208 THE PABIS COMMUNE. 

shells. On their side the troops of Versailles having 
passed the Seine at S^vre, occupied the Isle of St. Germain, 
and there established a hattery for the purpose of cutting 
off the retreat of the insurgents from the fort. The 
fusillade continued the whole night, and the artillery 
commenced its work of destruction at the break of day. 

On the 3d of May Fort Vanves was severely shelled ; it 
being the intention of the Versailles generals to cripple 
that fort in such a manner as to make it unable to render 
Issy any protection during the time employed in com- 
pleting the trenches for its investment. 

The shelling of Montrouge continued simultaneously 
with that of Vanves. The insurgents commenced raising 
new works in the part of the village near the cemetery 
which they occupied; and the regulars continued their 
works of approach, against which the bastions kept up an 
incessant fire. The proximity of the assailants, and the 
difficulty of ascertaining the respective positions of the 
two parties in the houses, prevented, however, the in- 
surgents on the ramparts from rendering efficient aid to 
their colleagues outside. 

The bastions of the Porte de Meudon and of the Point 
du Jour were also fired on by the Versailles batteries, so 
that Grenelle and Auteuil were considerably damaged, 
and all the villas in the neighborhood evacuated. 

The two gunboats belonging to the insurgents moored 
beneath the railway bridge continued to shell the batteries 
at Meudon, and were replied to by the Versailles batteries, 
which, however, did more harm to the bridge than to the 
gunboats. 

The line of attack of the regular troops on the insurgent 
positions became more and more extended to the left — 
that measure, by rendering combats between the two 
parties more frequent, appeared to have three objects in 
view .• First, to close on all points the circle of investment 



PARIS EXPECTANT. 209 

which "u^as already so near the forts and ramparts ; next, 
to wear out by an incessant struggle the insurgent bat- 
talions, which, with a sensible diminution in their effects, 
were forced to oppose, day and night, and over a vast front, 
troops which might be constantly renewed; and, lastly, 
to open to the army a field of operation so wide that it 
might choose the most favorable opportunity for a general 
action, and aid their attack by numerous diversions or 
demonstrations. In this manner a decisive action might 
be fought to the greatest advantage. 

The insurgents on the south, after having fought the 
whole of the 2d to resist the successful attacks of the 
army agamst the fortified positions on the Vanves road, 
and in the village of Issy, and, after having to resist a 
vigorous movement against the outworks of Bicetre and 
Issy, passed a very unquiet night. The fort of Issy was 
now so far surrounded, that reinforcements had to be sent 
by tlie gate of Van-v^es. In fact, after that engagement, 
the troops, already masters of Moulineaux and the park 
of Issy, situated to the right of the fort, seized on the 
left a powerfully armed barricade, which defended the 
strategical road from the fort of Issy to that of Vanves ; 
then, by a clever flank movement, they advanced from 
those two points on to the village itself, in which they 
occupied positions which commanded it completely. The 
only point which assured the communication of Paris 
with Issy was the cemetery, still held by the insurgents. 
Late in the evening there was every expectation that the 
army of Versailles would be in Paris by daylight next 
morning. In consequence of something that had trans- 
pired, three divisions of the army advanced towards the 
enceinte through the Bois de Boulogne, and an entire 
army corps was under orders to follow. Marshal de 
MacMahon, attended by his staff, left Versailles for the 
advanced posts at eleven o'clock, after an interview with 



210 THE PARIS COMMUNE. 

M. Thiers. Unfortunately, and for reasons not yet fully 
known, the National Guards of Passy and Auteuil, 38tli 
and 72d battalions, did not make the signals agreed upon, 
and the affair fell through. This was the second time in 
ten days that an enterprise of this kind had failed. The 
non-success of this undertaking was counterbalanced by a 
great success on the evening of the 3d. The commandant 
of the 2d corps telegraphed to the Chief of the Executive 
Power as follows : 

" Complete success of our attack on the right. 

"The redoubt of Moulin-Saquet has been taken by 
assault with great gallantry by the troops of General La- 
cretelle. 

" Two hundred dead insurgents remained on the ground. 
We have carried off three hundred prisoners, eight cannon, 
and se\eral /anions. 

" Two of the enemy's cannon, overthrown in the fosse, 
have been abandoned." 

M. Thiers, in his report, said, "This is the victory that 
the Commune will celebrate to-morrow in its bulletins." 

About seven o'clock in the evening of the 3d of May, 
four companies of the 39th Eegiment de Marche, sup- 
ported by the eclaireurs of the 41st and 71st Regiments, 
left the environs of Plessis-Picquet and arrived at the 
upper Seine by Hay, Chevilly, and Thiasis. There meet- 
ing the advanced posts of the 3d cavalry corps, they fol- 
lowed the route from Choisy-le-Eoi to Vitry. Then 
traversing that village in haste, they advanced in silence 
on the enemy's outposts. 

Moulin-Saquet was a position of the utmost import- 
ance to take and to liold ; it was one of those redoubts 
that, during the former siege, held head against the bat- 
teries of Hay and Thiasis, and was situated a little in 
advance of Bicetre. Its new works had rendered it very 



CAPTUEE OF MOULIN SAQUET. 211 

formidable. One account says that the attacking party 
had obtained the password of the insurgents, and, causing 
itself to be preceded by a small drove of bullocks con- 
ducted by soldiers disguised as peasants, penetrated into 
the redoubt, the sentinels allowing the supposed convoy 
to pass without molestation. Another account says that 
the redoubt fell into the hands of the Versailles troops 
by means of treason ; that the commandant, Gallien, 
either gave or sold the password ; that his disappearance 
during the combat, and the presence in the Versailles 
army of all the necessary material for the transport of the 
captured guns, proved this treachery. Nothing of the 
kind is mentioned, however, in the official despatches at 
Versailles, and the inference is, that the men who be- 
longed to the 55th and 120th battalions, having been on 
the alert the two preceding nights and greatly fatigued 
and overcome by sleep and strong drink, could offer little 
resistance. Before they were thoroughly awake, the troops 
were masters of the redoubt. 

Few of the defendants had even time to take up their 
arms, and the greater part were made prisoners without 
firing a shot ; others, who attempted to resist, were killed, 
wounded, or captured, and but few of the eight hundred 
men succeeded in escaping. The soldiers then seized 
the flags, seven pounders, and mitrailleuses, all of which 
were carried off. 

As soon as Haute-Bruy^re and Ivry had received the 
alarm they commenced firing heavily, and the troops, find- 
ing themselves too much exposed to the fire of those forts 
in addition to that of Bicetre, abandoned the position, 
taking with them their prisoners and their trophies. During 
the following day great discouragement prevailed in the 
quarter of the Gobelins, to which the surprised battalions 
belonged. A number of women and children had assem- 
bled around the Mairie, crying " Treason ! " 



213 THE PAKIS COMMUNE. 

The Commune, in its proclamations, boasted of having 
retaken the redoubt with great dash. They certainly- 
made it untenable, as also the Clamart station, the scene 
of the other surprise and slaughter. The shells from 
Fort V^nves inflicted great injury on the regular troops, 
and Chateau Issy suffered greatly from the splendid firing 
of the insurgents at the Point-du-Jour. The insurgents 
about this time seemed to be inflicting as much damage 
on the regulars as they themselves were suffering. 

Colonel Eossel, Delegate of War, in his military report, 
stated that during the night of the 3d, detachments of 
Versailles troops presented themselves at Moulin-Saquet 
as a patrol, and were admitted after giving the correct 
parole. They then charged the garrison, taking them by 
surprise, and driving them from the redoubt. The enemy 
carried off six guns with teams, which had been kept in 
readiness. 

The result of an inquiry was that the commander, 
Gallien, was accused of having sold the countersign to the 
enemy, or, at all events, of having publicly divulged it in 
a cafe. The redoubt was almost immediately retaken by 
the 133d battalion. 

The insurgents notified the inhabitants of St. Ouen, 
Clichy, and Levallois, that they must evacuate their 
homes, as some operations were about to take place. 

The official journal of the Commune contains the 
subjoined report of the last sitting of that body : 

" In reply to a demand of M. Courbet, that M. Paschal 
Grousset, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, should address 
a manifesto to the European Governments asking for the 
recognition of the Commune as a belligerent power, M. 
Paschal Grousset said : 

" ' The delegation for Foreign Affairs feels that 
there would be something offensive in having to make 



COLOKEL WETZEL EEMOVED. 213 

lilurope the judge iu a civil war, and in soliciting a Euro- 
pean A^erdict, which could not hut condemn Frenchmen. 
It is necessary at any price to avoid foreign intervention, 
and it would he peurilg to demand the character of helli- /"-^ 
gerent when the Commune de facto possesses it. The 
verdict of Europe and the world has heen given. ISFo one 
can reproach the Commune and its defenders with having 
committed a single act which is not in harmony with the 
usages of war among civilized nations. We wage war 
honorably ; we do not employ any means which we can- 
not publicly avow ; we do not disguise police agents and 
gendarmes in the garb of troops of the line ; we do not 
bombard women and children ; we do not load our guns 
with incendiary bombs, or our rifles with steel-pointed 
balls ; we do not summarily execute prisoners." 

The members approved of the response of the Minister 
of Foreign Affairs. 

The official journal also published a decree declaring 
that political and professional oaths should be abolished. 
Also one appointing Citizen Henry Director of the Organ- ,,, 
ization and Movements of the Ministry of War ; and one 
to Colonel Wetzel, at Issy, as follows : 

" Citizen : — You have several times addressed applica- 
tions for reinforcements, either to the military com- 
mandant at the Hotel de Ville, or to the commander of 
the seamen, without sending through your direct chief, 
the General La Cecilia, or even through the Delegate of 
War. That mode of acting, altogether irregular, forces me 
to withdraw from you your command. You will return 
to Paris, and place yourself at my orders, after taking the 
directions of your superior officer for giving up your 
service. " Salutation and Fraternity, 

'• EOSSEL." 



214 THE PAEIS COMMUNE. 

It was currently reported among the adherents of the 
Commune . that there was a growing opposition to the 
maintenance of Citizen Rossel as Delegate of War. 

It was said that Citizen Jourde, Delegate to the Finances, 
believed himself called upon to resign because, as he said, 
ofiicials in his position would henceforth be nothing but 
clerks of the Committee of Public Safety. The Commune, 
however, refused to accept that resignation. M. Jourde 
then resumed his mission ; but he declared that, in the 
existing organization at the Hotel de Ville, conflicts ap- 
peared to him inevitable between the functionaries at the 
various ministries and the Committee. These debates 
did not precisely announce very tranquil days for the men 
who ruled the capital. 

In the meantime the Versailles batteries kept up a 
regular fire on Issy and the gate of Vaugirard. At the 
Point du Jour, the gunboats Estoc, Sabre and Perrier 
cannonaded Meudon, and were replied to by the battery 
at Brimborion. The bastions 68 and 69 also took part 
in the contest. 

The fighting at Neuilly was of the same unvarying 
character, consisting of continual struggles in the streets, 
houses, and barricades, there being on both sides an 
incessant noise of cannon or musketry, varied by the 
rattle of the mitrailleuses. At one moment of the day 
the insurgents had succeeded in capturing the barricade 
of the Rue des Huissiers, but on the arrival of reinforce- 
ments of troops by the Avenue Sainte-Foy, they abandoned 
the position, and took refuge in the houses. The guns 
of Coiirbevoie were then brought to bear on their retreat, 
and the insurgents were at length forced to retire behind 
their own barricades. 

Several shells had fallen far down the Champs Elysees, 
in front of the Palais de ITndustrie, and deaths were 
numerous on that avenue. Notwithstanding this, it was 



CURIOSITY OF THE FRENCH. 315 

nearly always crowded. Curiosity is a prominent trait in 
a Frenchman's character, and he Avould run to see a dead 
man if he were positive a second shell would immediately 
follow the one that caused the accident. Above all, the 
inevitable individual sprinkling the streets was always at 
his post, hose in hand, performing his avocation between 
the shots. 

A new deputation from the Union Repiiblicaine arrived 
at Yersailles on the 4th, and had an interview with M. 
Thiers, to propose a new basis of conciliation — the step, 
however, was not attended with any success. A similar 
result attended the deputation to the Commune. 

The official journal of the insurgents published on 
May 6th, the following proclamation : 

" Pakis, May 5, 1871. 

" Tlie Members of the Commune, Delegates of Public Safety: 

"Considering that pending the duration of the war, 
and as long as the Commune of Paris is obliged to fight 
the bands of Versailles who besiege it, and shed the 
blood of the citizens, it is not possible to tolerate the 
culpable manoeuvres of the auxilliaries of the enemy ; 

" Considering that amongst the number of these manoeu- 
vres should be placed in the first rank the calumnious 
attacks directed by certain journals against the population 
of Paris and the Commune, and although both one and 
the other are above such attacks, they are not less a per- 
manent insult to the courage, devotedness, and patriotism 
of our fellow-citizens ; 

" That it would be contrary to public morality to let 
these journals continue to spread defamation and outrage 
on the defenders of our rights, who are shedding their 
blood for the safety and liberty of France and the 
Commune ; 

" Considering that the Government, seated at Versailles, 



216 THE PAEIS COMMU:frE. 

interdicts in all parts of France tlie sale of any journal 
which defends the principles of the reyolution represented 
by the Commune ; 

" Considering that the journals the Petit Moniteur, 
the Bon Sens, the Petite Presse, the Petit Journal, the 
France and the TemjJS, excite to civil war in each of their 
numbers, and that they are the most active auxiliaries 
of the enemy of Paris and of the Eepublic, 

"IT IS DECEEED, 

"Art. 1. The journals above mentioned are suppressed. 

" Art. 2. Notification of the present decree will be given 
to each of the journals and their printers, who will be 
responsible for all further publications. Citizen Le Moussu, 
Commissaire of the Delegations, is charged with the execu- 
tion of the present decree. 

" F. COURNET, 
" The Memlier of ttie Commune, Delegate of Public Safety." 

■ " Paeis, 16 Floreal, year TO. 

" Committee of Public Safety : 

" Considering that the House known under the name 
of Chapelle Expiatoire of Louis XVI is a prominent in- 
sult to the first revolution, and a perpetual protestation 
of the reaction against the justice of the people, 

"IT IS DECEEED, 

" Art. 1. That the chapel called Expiatory shall be de- 
stroyed. 

" Art. 2. The material shall be sold to the public for the 
. profit of the Administration of Public Lands. 

" Art. 3. The Director of Public Lands will cause to be 
executed the present decree within eight days. 

"Ant. Arnaud, Ch. Gerardin, Leo Meillet, 
"Felix Pyat, Ranvier — The Committee 
" of PuNic Safety:' 



ALLOTTIKG THE COMMANDS. 217 

Colonel Eossel, Delegate of War, in accordance with the 
injunctions of the Committee of Public Safety, to allot the 
military commands as soon as possible, has issued the fol- 
lowing orders : 

" General Dombrowski will go in person tb Neuilly, and 
take command on the right bank ; General La Cecilia will 
direct the operations between the Seine and the left bank 
of the Bievre, and will take the title of General of the 
Centre ; General Wrobleski will remain at the head of the 
left wing ; Generel Bergeret will command the first re- 
serve brigade, and General Eudes the second. Bach of 
the aboye-named generals will retain headquarters in the 
interior of the city : 1. Dombrowski at the Place Ven- 
dome ; 2. La Cecilia, Ecole Militaire ; 3. Wrobleski, Elysee ; 
4. Eudes, Legion of Honor ; and 5. General Bergeret, Le- 
gislative Body." 

The same functionary published the following circular 
to the inhabitants of the suburbs : 

" Citizens : — Since I held the post I now occupy, I have 
received several letters informing me that inoffensive per- 
sons had been struck by fragments of shells in our villages. 

" Until the war shall be brought to a close, I will do all 
in my power to prevent useless suffering ; but, in order 
that I may stop the fire of the batteries directed on such 
or such a point by individual commanders, I must be 
informed in time, and in a positive manner, that the ene- 
my does not occupy the spots indicated. On the other 
hand, it is necessary that I should receive the contrary in- 
formation when the soldiers are present. 

" The communes or hamlets which can offer me such 
guarantees shall be assured against these regretable and 
useless cruelties. You see what I ask is not simple neu- 
trality, but a sort of alHance. 

" Salutation and fraternity, 

10 " ROSSEL." 



218 THE PAEIS COMMUNE. 

On the morning of the fifth considerable skirmishing 
took place in the Park of Bagneux, and at the entrance to 
the village. The insurgents, who were only a short dis- 
tance from that locality, and had barricaded the approach 
to Montrouge, made a reconnaissance in advance. The 
army had, however, considerable forces in the neighbor- 
hood, and some guns at Chatillon opened fire on the Com- 
munists, who were compelled to retreat to their trenches. 
Issy continued to receive a convergent fire from the bat- 
teries of the Orangery, the Tour-aux- Anglais, Val-Fleury, 
Clamart, and the Moulin-de-Pierre. The insurgents had 
repaired the fortifications with mattresses of dried sea- 
weed and heaps of stable manure, but the straw had be- 
come dried by the wind and sun, and was set on fire by 
shells. The troops continued their works along the rail- 
way embankment, with the object of isolating the Fort 
of Issy from that of Vanves. About four in the afternoon 
an engagement, without result, took place before the first 
houses at the Moulineaux. 

A large number of naval gunners arrived from Toulon 
by express, and were to be sent to new positions recently 
fortified by the Government. The marine pieces were 
those which they had been accustomed to work. 

The insurgents kept continually losing ground on the 
west of the city, the regular troops having taken all the 
houses on the Avenue Neuilly to within three hundred 
yards of Porte Maillot. The army of Versailles was also 
working its way along the right bank of the river in the 
direction of the bridge of Asnieres, in order to completely 
cut off the Communists from the Seine. 

The arrival of ofiicial information from Versailles was 
more than acceptable to the large majority of the Paris- 
ians, and occasionally an outside journal from Versailles 
arrived with news which roused their drooping spirits. 
The subjoined communication from M. Thiers, vdiich was 



SUCCESSES OF THE NATIONALS. 219 

telegraj^hed to the Prefects of the different dei3artnients in 
France, was the first correct news the law and order party 
received of this very important affair : 

"Versailles, May 6, 7:30 p.m. 

"Those who have followed the operations which our 
army is executing with admirable devotion, in order to 
preserve social order, vv^hich is so gravely menaced by the 
Parisian insurrection, must have perceived that the object 
was to reduce Fort Issy by silencing its fire and cutting 
off its communications both with Fort Yanves and the 

A 

enceinte. These operations are approaching completion, 
notwithstanding the obstacle which is presented by the 
batteries of Fort Vanves. At this moment our troops are 
engaged in forming the trench which will separate Fort 
Issy from Fort Vanves. The railway, which is crossed by 
a vaulted passage, is the line which has been disputed for 
three days. Last night 240 sailors and two companies of 
the 17th Battalion of Chasseurs a Pied, led by General 
Paturel, boldly rushed upon the railway and the arched 
passage. The sailors, being met with a heavy fire, were 
bravely supported by the two companies of the 17th, and 
the line of railway, as well as the arched passage, remained 
in our power. The garrison of Vany^es, seeking at that 
moment to take our soldiers in the rear, were held ready 
to issue from their positions, when Colonel Vilmette, at 
the head of the 2d Provisional Battalion, fell upon them, 
carried the insurgents' trenches, took the Redan in which 
they were collected, killed and captured a considerable 
number, and finished the brilliant engagement by a de- 
cisive coup do main. 

" The Redan was immediately turned against the ene- 
my, and a quantity of arms, ammunition, and sacks of 
provisions abandoned by the Vanves garrison were taken, 
as also the flag of the 119th Insurgent Battalion. 



230 THE PARIS COMMUNE. 

" Thus it is seen that not a day is being lost ; each hour 
"brings us nearer to the moment when the main attack will 
terminate the anxieties of Paris and of all France. 

" We have had several distinguished ofBcers placed hors 
de combat in these operations. Colonel Leperche, Lieu- 
tenants Panet and De Broglie have been severely but not 
dangerously wounded. It is hoped that they will soon be 
restored. 

■ "A. Thiees." 

The first notice the Parisians had of the above combat 
was at six o'clock on the morning of the 6th of May. 
About two hundred insurgents, bareheaded, and without 
arms or equipm.ent, entered Paris in disorder by the gate 
of Italy, crying out : " The fort of Vanves is taken ! " 
They were in such a state of excitement that for some 
time no exj^lanation of their panic could be obtained from 
them. From their confused accounts, the following cause 
of their retreat was gathered : For three days the fort 
had been under a constant fire from the batteries of the 
Tour-aux- Anglais and from the redoubts of Chatillon and 
Moulin-de-Pierre. Both artillerymen and National Gruards 
were almost worn out with fatigue. They were, moreover, 
exposed to a fire of riflemen, from trenches constructed 
by the enemy at a distance of only five hundred yards, 
and many gunners had been killed or wounded at their 
pieces. The troops had also obtained possession of the 
barricade at the point where the railway intersects the 
military road, and the insurgents were consequently in 
danger every moment of finding themselves completely 
isolated. 

The evening of the 5th had been comparatively quiet, 
when about midnight the troops issued from the trenches 
and made the first sentinels prisoners before these latter 
could raise the alarm. What followed was not very clear. 



TAKIC AT FORT VAKVES. 221 

According to the insurgents, a party of marines, waving a 
wliite flag, adYanced np to a trench occupied by the insur- 
gents in front of the fort, crying out "Vive la Commune!" 
and then rushed on the Communists and bayoneted them. 
It is, however, more probable that this was another well- 
planned surprise, like that which succeeded at Moulin- 
Saquet. Many of the insurgents were killed or made 
prisoners, and the others retreated into the fort. The 
battery of Chatillon then opened a heavy fire of shell and 
canister shot, which fell on the parapet like hail. 

The panic became general, and the insurgents, believing 
that a general attack was to be made, and that their re- 
treat might be cut off, fled in confusion. 

The fugitives, pursued by the fire of the troops, first 
endeavored to enter Paris by Porte Yanves, but were re- 
fused admission, as well as at several other gates at which 
they applied. Some attempted to pass by the gap in the 
fortifications made by the river Bievre, but there the sen- 
tinels, who had strict orders to allow no one to pass, 
threatened to fire on them. They finally reached the 
Porte d'ltalie, where, after waiting an hour, they were able 
to enter with the carts of the market-gardeners. The fort 
was reoccupied early m the morning, but soon became 
almost untenable, as the soldiers had advanced to within 
two hundred yards, and formed a semicircle of investment 
extending from the station of Clamart to the point where 
the railway intersects the military road, between the forts 
of Vanves and Montrouge. About fifty of the fugitive 
insurgents were afterwards disarmed by order of the Del- 
egate of War, Colonel Eossel, and subjected to the military 
degradation of having the right sleeve of their overcoats 
cut off. 

The ofiicial organ of the Commune published a decree 
declaring that on and after the 12th of May all articles of 
wearing apparel, linen, books, bedding, and working tools 



322 THE PARIS COMMUNE. 

pledged at the Mont de PieU, for a sum not exceeding 
twenty francs, could be taken out without any payment, 
provided the person who received the money on them 
could prove his identity. The Delegate for Finance was 
to arrange with the administration which advanced the 
money, for the mode of repayment. From a report of the 
last sitting held by the Commune, the expense of this 
measure would be about eight million francs. 

A notice was issued by the Delegate of War that not 
more than two men could be admitted together in any 
fort or redoubt, unless in the case of a troop previously 
announced and expected. He also visited the Commune, 
and protested against all orders given directly by the Com- 
mittee to generals and superior oflQcers under his com- 
mand, and repudiated all consequences which might 
result from that course. 



CHAPTER VIII. 



Concert given at the Tuilerics for the benefit of the wounded National Guards — 
Appeal of M. Thiers to the inhabitants of Paris— Battery of Montretout — 
Evacuation of Fort Issy— Occupation by the troops — Engagement at Moulin- 
Saquet— False reports given by the Official Journal— Rossers report— His 
letter— His imprigonment and escape — Delescluze appointed Delegate of 
War — Fort Vanves evacuated — The insurgents again take possession — Dif- 
ferences of the Commune and Central Committee— Government despatch — 
Decree ordaining the demolition of M. Thiers' house— Camp in the Bois de 
Boulogne— Procession of troops at Versailles- Sinliing of an insurgent gun- 
boat—Capture of Fort Vanves— Villas in the neighborhood of Paris plundered 
by the insurgents— Threat of the Communists with regard to Paris— Dissen- 
sions of the Commune — Fall of the Column VendCme — Its description — Guns 
captured at Vanves presented by a deputation to the National Assembly — 
Marshal de MacMahon's order of the day— Explosion of the cartridge man- 
ufactory in the Avenue Eapp— The blame thrown upon the National Assem- 
bly by the Commune— Sacrilege at Notre Dame des Victoires— Cluseret tried 
and set at liberty by the Commune— Arrest of Eochefort at Meaus— His en- 
trance into Versailles. 



ON tlie niglit of tlie 7tli of May, a grand concert was 
given at the Tuileries, for the benefit of the fami- 
lies of the insurgents killed or wounded. It took place 
in the Salle des Marechaux. That is, it was annoujiced 
to take place there; hut it really took place in several 
halls at the same time. While a prima donna was singing 
Trovatore in one hall, a band was playing the Marseillaise 
in another. As the halls all opened into one another, the 
confusion and noise was fearful ; but the sight Avas one 
never to be forgotten, and well repaid standing in line for 
more than an hour, as all were obliged to do, before being 
able to gain admission, although tickets had been en- 
gaged in advance. The receipts amounted to over twelve 



224 THE PARIS COMMUNE. 

thonsand francs. A correspondent gives the following 
amusing account of the affair : 

"In consequence of a large placard jDosted over the 
walls of Paris this morning, I passed through the gate of 
the private garden of the Tuileries, and made my way, in 
company with a crowd of citizens of all classes, through 
the apartments occupied but a few months ago by the 
ex-Emperor and Empress. The printed invitation an- 
nounced that we might see the rooms in which the 
'tyrant' had lived for the modest sum of 50c., but that, 
should we think proper to take tickets for the concert, 
' whereby these saloons might be at length rendered use- 
ful to the people,' we should be permitted to enjoy the 
extra show gratis. I took a ticket, and joined myself to 
a hot stream of people who belonged to every nationality 
and rank of life, and whose remarks and criticisms were 
most edifying. There were shopkeepers and their wives, 
only too delighted to take advantage of the mildest dissi- 
pation ; gentlemen whose National Guard trousers were 
rendered respectable by the gray jacket or blouse of a 
citizen ; humdrum housewives who approved everything, 
and gaped their admiration of so much gorgeous wall- 
coloring; there were flaunting ladies in bonnets of the 
latest fashion and marvellous petticoats, who criticised 
the curtains and pointed the parasol of scorn at faded 
draperies ; people who felt the heavy hand of the spectre 
of departed glory, and people who exulted at beholding 
the hidden recesses of an Imperial mansion laid bare to 
the jokes and ribaldry of Belleville and La Villette. Every 
class of Parisian society was represented in the throng 
that swayed and hustled through the rooms ; but the sad- 
dest sight of all was the knot or two of decrepit veterans 
from the Invalides who leant against the balustrade of the 
grand staircase, and gazed with pinched-up lips and dry 



COKCEET AT THE TUILEEIES. 225 

eyes at the National Guards on duty, lounging and car- 
ousing down below. 

"The stairs were littered with bedding and cooking 
utensils, shirts and stockings hanging to dry over the gilt 
railings, while in the square at the stairs' foot were ranged 
benches and boards on trestles, and there the soldiers of 
the Guard sat in groups picturesque enough, contrasting 
in the carelessness and dirt of their general appearance 
with the lavish ornaments of marble and gilt work which 
served as a background to their figures. Marching orders, 
more or less thumbed and torn, hung in fragments from 
the panelled walls ; names in pencil and names in ink, 
and names scrawled with a finger-nail, defaced the doors 
and staircase wall. A sentry stood at every door to see 
that the citizens behaved themselves — a precaution by 
no means unnecessary, the outward aspect of certain 
members of the crowd being taken into consideration. 

" In the Salle de la Paix a number of women were busy 
uncovering a number of chairs for the promised concert, 
and in the Salle des Marechaux beyond, where the con- 
cert was to be given,-velvet benches were already occupied 
by old ladies in white caps with baskets in their hands, 
who presented a stern aspect of endurance, as though 
they were determined to sit there through the prepara- 
tions as well as the promised entertainment, and still to 
continue sitting until turned out by sword and bayonet. 
The ' Salle des Marechaux ' exists no more except in 
name, for men on ladders were employed covering up the 
portraits which decorate the hall with screens of red silk 
— I suppose lest the past glory of French heroes should 
pale the brilliancy of the National Guard, just as the bas- 
reliefs of the Venddme Column act as an outrage upon 
the susceptibilities of the Commune. White cloths were 
being tied over the busts of Napoleon's generals, and 
everything relating to the past carefully obliterated — a 

10* 



23G THE PARIS COMMUNE. 

rather foolish proceeding, considering that the bee-span- 
gled Imperial curtains still hang over the doors, and 
festoons of the same drapery decorate the gallery above. 
The brocaded panels of the Salle du Tr6ne were objects 
of much remark among the ladies, as were the tapestries 
of the Salle des Gobelins; but the bareness and total 
absence of furniture were commented on freely on all 
sides. Not a chair or a window-blind, or even a door-plate 
or handle, is to be seen in any of the rooms, except in 
those used for the concerts, and the question arose, natur- 
ally enough, ' Where is it all gone to ? ' The same de- 
mand was made so often of an elderly bourgeois on duty 
at the end of the Salle de Diane that he was fairly bewil- 
dered, and looked round for help, and, hailing the gold 
stripes on my cap as a haven of relief, he forthwith seized 
upon me as a superior officer, and insisted on an explana- 
tion. ' You know there were quantities of cases carried 
off during the time before Sedan,' he said ; ' but, with all 
their cunning, they can't have dismantled a whole palace 
of this size, can they?' And the crowd stood round 
endeavoring to account for the nakedness of the land, 
until a remark that the Commune had been feathering 
their nests with the chairs and tables dispersed them 
laughing. 

" The Empress's bedroom was a great attraction, Chaplin's 
charming decorations being subjects of sufficient interest, 
independent of the absent furniture. The looking-glasses 
which spring from the walls called down ejaculations of 
delight from a party of dressmakers, who carefully took 
notes of the mechanism, ' in order to imitate it, my dear, 
when Paris becomes itself again.' There was a large 
placard upon the wall of a kind of library, inviting the 
attention of the public to the secret arrangements in a 
recess whereby the Empress obtained her dresses and linen 
from some manufactory of garments above, and an old 



CONTllASTS. 227 

lady, after having carefully examined the elaborate 
details, turned away with a sigh and a shake of the head. 
' How foolish of them, after all, not to have done a little 
for us in order that they might have continued to abide in 
this paradise ! ' How different was the Empress's apartment 
this morning, bare and crowded with the dregs of the 
Paris population, from the night when I last saw it, the 
night of her ilight, when bed-clothes still littered the 
floor, and gloves and little odds and ends of female finery 
told of recent occupation ! All was silent then with the 
stillness of a coming storm ; now the walls re-echo with a 
stir of unhallowed feet, and. the spring sunshine streams 
in at the open window accompanied by whiffs from the 
garden below, while a distant cry reaches us from the 
street beyond of ' Le Vengeur,^ ' Le Cri du Peuple,^ ' Le 
dernier ordro du ComiU du Salut PuMic' and we detect 
curls of smoke about the Arch, of Triumph, which remind 
us that the bombardment still goes on. 

" A reflective sentry at the door of the cabinet de travail 
begged me to remark the portraits set round above the 
doors. ' These are the Empress's favorite ladies,' he in- 
formed me ; ' are they not salojnnes, one would say, of the 
period of Montespan ? And those were the ladies who 
were models for the women of our land — no wonder that 
Paris should have become the Gomorrah that it is ! ' In 
the evening the concert was given, and a wonderful bear- 
garden the Imperial Palace presented. Members of the 
Commune flitted about in red draperies and tried to find 
room on the already crowded benches for the struggling 
mob, who rubbed their hot faces with their unaccustomed 
white gloves, and used such language to each other as, it 
is to be hoped, those august walls have seldom heard. 
Meanwhile the crowd increased in numbers, and by eight 
o'clock the reception rooms were full, and some 2,000 
people still stood in a long string in the garden outside. 



228 THE PAEIS COMMUNE. 

They behaved with the wondrous good nature which char- 
acterizes a French crowd, laughing oyer the absurdity of 
their predicament and waving the tickets, which tliey 
would never he able to present, jestingly at one another. 
In course of time the whole of Vaejardin prive was full of 
people, who looked up at the lights streaming from the win- 
dows, and sat about on chairs quietly smoking their cigars 
and enjopng the lovely evening, listening to the occasional 
boom at the other end of the long alley, where a bright 
flash which bore death upon its wings appeared in the sky 
from time to time, in mockery of the gas-light chandeliers 
and feeble attempts at revelry that were going on" above 
our heads." 

The construction of barricades in the interior of Paris 
was now carried on with great activity, the object of the 
Commune being to establish a series of redoubts in the 
principal centres of the city. The most considerable were 
those in the Place de la Concorde, whose deep embank- 
ments, with a wide ditch in advance, were raised at the 
Eue Eoyale, Eue Eivoli, and at the gate of the Tuileries, 
facing the Champs Elysees, and at the corner of the quay. 
These works were constructed chiefly of bags filled with 
sand, and the angles and faces were carefully finished, so 
as to resemble masonry work. The barricade at the 
corner of the Eue de Eivoli reached almost as high as the 
terrace of the Tuileries, against which it abutted. It was 
pierced for five pieces of cannon, and a small passage was 
left open on one side. 

The other open places thus defended were the Place 
Vendome, Place Pereire, and Hotel de Ville. Similar 
T/orks had also been commenced on the Trocadero. Some 
of the barricades were made in two sections, one behind 
the other, so as to leave a passage for vehicles between. 
Works were also raised across the main thoroughfares 
which lead to the city gates ; that in the direction of the 



THIEKS' FINAL APPEAL. 229 

Porte Maillot was before the triumphal arch at the top of 
the Champs Elysees. The most formidable, however, was 
that on the Place d'ltalie. Those at Montmartre and Belle- 
ville had their guns pointed on the interior of the city, 
instead of being turned to the exterior, showing that in 
that quarter more fear was entertained of an attack from 
within than from without. 

The Chief of the Executive Power determined, before 
commencing the finishing stroke for the subjection of the 
insurgents, to make a final appeal to the Parisians ; 
he caused, therefore, the following proclamation to be 
circulated : 

" PAEisiAisrs : — France, freely consulted, elected a Gov- 
ernment which is the only legal one — the only one which 
can command obedience, if Government be not an empty 
word. This Government has given to you the same 
rights which are enjoyed by Lyons, Marseilles, Toulouse, 
and Bordeaux. Without departing from the principle of 
equality, you cannot demand greater rights than are 
X30ssessed by the otlier cities of the territory. It is the 
government of the Commune — that is, of the minority — 
which oppresses you; and, while daring to cover itself 
with the infamous red flag, claims to impose its will upon 
France. By its works you can judge of the regime which 
it proposes to inflict upon you ; it violates the rights of 
property, imprisons citizens to use them as hostages, con- 
verts your streets and public places into deserts, puts a 
stop to all work in Paris, paralyzes it throughout all 
France, arrests tlie prosperity which was about to revive, 
retards the evacuation of our territory by the Germans, 
and exposes you to a renewed attack from them, which 
they declare they are ready to commence without mercy 
if we do not contrive by ourselves to put down the 
insurrection. We have ourselves listened to all the delega- 



230 THE PAEIS C0MMU2TE. 

tions which have been sent to its, and not one but has 
presented to us as a condition the obedience of the national 
sovereignty to the revolt — the sacrifice of all liberties and 
of all interests. We have repeated to these delegations 
that we would continue to pay the subsidy to necessitous 
workmen. We promised, and we promise it still, but the 
insurrection must cease ; for it cannot be prolonged with- 
out causing the ruin of France. The Government which 
speaks to you would have preferred that you should 
liberate yourselves from a few tyrants who are playing 
with your liberties and your lives ; but since you cannot 
do so, it must itself undertake the duty; and for that 
purpose it has collected an army beneath your walls — an 
army which comes, at the price of its blood, not to con- 
quer, but to deliver you. Up to the present time it has 
confined itself to attacking the outer works. The moment 
has now arrived when, to abridge your sufferings, it must 
attack the enceinte itself. It will not bombard Paris, as 
the people of the Commune and Committee of Safety will 
not fail to tell you it intends. A bombardment threatens 
a whole city, and renders it uninhabitable, and has for its 
object to intimidate the citizens, and constrain them to a 
capitulation. The Government will not fire a cannon 
except to force one of your gates, and will endeavor to 
limit to the point attacked the ravages of war of which it 
is not the author. The Government knows, and would 
have understood, even if you had not on all hands informed 
it, that immediately the soldiers shall have entered through 
the enceinte you will rally round the national flag, in 
order to contribute with our valiant army to the destruc- 
tion of a sanguinary and cruel tyranny. It depends upon 
yourselves to prevent disorders which are inseparable from 
an assault. You are a hundredfold more numerous than 
the Communist sectarians. Unite, then ; open your gates, 
which they have closed against law, order, your prosperity, 



BATTEEY OP MONTKETOUT. 231 

and that of France. The gates once opened, the cannon 
will cease to be heard ; order, plenty, peace, will reappear 
within your walls ; the Germans will evacnate our terri- 
tory, and the traces of our misfortunes will rapidly dis- 
appear. But if you do not act, the Government will ho 
obliged to adopt for your deliverance the most energetic 
means, the most prompt, and the most certain. It is 
bound to do so for your sakes, and especially for the sake 
of France, because the cessation of productive labor, which 
is ruining you, has extended to it, and it has a right 
to save itself if you know not how to save yourselves. 
Parisians ! think over these things quietly. In a very fcAV 
days we shall be in Paris. France desires to put an end 
to this Civil War. She will, she ought, and she can do so. 
She is marching to deliver you ; and you can aid and save 
yourselves by rendering an assault useless, and by resuming 
from to-day your place among your fellow-citizens and 
brothers. 

"A. Thiers." 

It was on Sunday, the 7tli of May, that this document 
was given to the public. The following day, at ten o'clock 
in the morning, the great battery of Montretout opened 
its fire on the bastions between 63 and 72. This battery, 
which will remain celebrated in the history of the siege of 
Paris in 1871, was not installed, as most of the other 
batteries were, behind epaulements of forraer date. As 
the Prussians had nothing constructed in this vicinity, it 
was all entirely new, and had occupied but six days in its 
formation, viz., from April 29th to May 4tli. M. Thiers 
came every day to watch the progress of the work, which 
was being executed by 600 ouvriers and carpenters, under 
the direction of M. Hunebelle, well known in Paris for 
his intelligence and patriotism. In this short space of 
time 150,000 cubic feet of earth had been moved, the 



233 THE PARIS COMMUifE. 

powder magazines, the abri, and the covered communi- 
cations constructed. It was situated between the railroad 
from Paris to Versailles and the route from Ville-d'Avray 
to Mont Valerien. It consisted in reality of a collection 
of eight distinct batteries, yiz., two at the park of Pozzo 
di Borgo, one on the road to Mont Valerien, the battery 
of Du Puit, two of the Vignes, one at the Chalet Mathieu, 
and one at the Maison Vivier, which was used as a powder 
magazine — the whole covering nearly a mile in extent. 
The arming of these batteries commenced May 4th, and 
was terminated on the morning of the 8th. Its material 
consisted of seventy pieces of large calibre, each piece sup- 
plied with 500 shells. Eight were called pieces of eighty, 
on account of the weight of the projectile, eighty kilo- 
grammes, equal to 160 pounds. When these seventy pieces 
opened fire on the bastions of the city, it remained as if 
dumb with astonishment, with the exception of bastion 
72, which from time to time sent a harmless shell. The 
bombardment of Point du Jour was perfectly furious, 
while Valerien kept howling its shower of iron on the 
Porte Maillot. As to Port Issy, the incessant bombard- 
ment had reduced it to such a deplorable state that, to 
hold it any longer, became impossible, as the casemates 
were crushed in, and the men hardly dared to show 
themselves on the ramparts. The regular troops were 
masters of the church and a part of the village, and their 
tirailletirs could arrest and destroy the convoys on the 
route from Vanves to Clamart. 

A decision had been come to in the morning to aban- 
don the fort, and the 209th battalion first set the example, 
and were followed by the 106th and the 261st. This 
latter from Montmartre had gone out 200 strong the 
previous morning, and returned 95 only. The companies 
of engineers were the last to quit, offcer making every pre- 
paration for blowing up the fort. 



FOET ISST EVACrATED. 233 

ToTvarcls ton o'clock in the morning, tlio fort being 
dumb and having the appearance of being evacuated, the 
chef do hatallion, Barillon, wishing to know the cause of 
this strange silence, followed by several sappers of engi- 
neers, advanced towards the gate. . The drawbridge was 
down, he. entered; the fort was evacuated. 

The batteries having ceased to fire, the 38th regiment 
of the line ran to take possession of the defences which 
had been so horribly battered for the last eight days, and 
Lieutenant Biadelli received the recompense due to Com- 
mandant Barillon. Contrary to their expectations, the 
soldiers found in the abandoned fort a considerable quan- 
tity of provisions, ammunition, and a large quantity of 
spirituous liquors. In the greater quantity of the barrels 
was a strong mixture of tobacco and spirits. This decoc- 
tion had the effect of exciting the courage and rendering 
the men v/hat would be called in slang terms "figlitiiig 
drimh" but producing also most fatal results caused by 
the nicotine. Every man wounded was a man dead. The 
members of the Committee of Public Safety had but little 
care for these inevitable accidents, for they professed for 
human life but a very moderate respect. 

The firing from Chatillon and Val Fleury was extremely 
heavy on Fort Vanves throughout the day, and the shells 
fell incessantly there and on the ramparts of Yaugirard. 
About eight in the evening a fire broke out in one of the 
buildings of the fort, and was blazing till midnight. The 
cannonade of the Versailles batteries did not, however, 
cease, and the shells exploded in the midst of the burning 
mass, raising up clouds of sparks like a firework. 

During the day an engagement occurred near the 
Moulin-Saquet. The insurgents still held the mill, but 
the regulars occupied some houses near, which a de- 
tachment of Communists attempted to take. The com- 
bat lasted nearly an hour; the soldiers shot from the 



234 THE PAEIS COMMTNE. 

windows and from the cellars through air-holes. Eyentu- 
ally the insurgents had to retire, having succeeded in cap- 
turing only one of the buildings, which they were obliged 
to "abandon. The position was of some importance, as, 
being united to the village Thiais by trenches, the soldiers 
were able to advance to it and annoy the insurgents in 
the redoubt. The troops made a faint attack during 
the day on the great barricade of the Route de Chatillon, 
but did not persist in it, and withdrew when reinforce- 
ments arrived to the insurgents. About five in the even- 
ing a more serious assault was made on the Haute-Bru- 
yeres, and the advanced trenches were carried by the 
troops. 

It was generally supposed that the news received by the 
Paris journals of the results of the fighting going on out- 
side the walls was meagre in the extreme ; but the Com- 
mune still wished to make it more so. A proposal was 
consequently brought before that body by Citizen Mortier 
to the efiect that any journal yenturing to touch on mili- 
tary matters should be suspended, and its proprietors and 
printer prosecuted before the tribunals. The examples of 
military news in the ofiicial and other Communal journals 
were certainly most amusing for their brevity. The sub- 
joined were published the morning after Fort Issy sur- 
rendered : 

First.—" Night." « Tolerably calm." 

Second. — " Day ; entirely quiet." 

Third. — " Bas-Fontenay attacked the Fort of Mont- 
rouge, which replied vigorously, and reduced the Ver- 
saillese to silence." 

Fourth. — " Morning quiet." 

Fifth. — "Night quite calm;" then, "Evening tran- 
quil," etc. 



BRIEF Alf NOUNCEMENT. 335 

When one had read these announcements, he would say 
to himself. There is evidently an armistice. So much 
calm evidently indicates that the situation is quieting 
down. All at once is heard a most frightful cannonade ; 
fighting is going on everywhere ; men are being killed, 
wounded, and made prisoners, and blazing houses light 
up the besiegers from a distance. Every one was aware 
of the fact, except the official organ of the Commune, 
which knew nothing about it. 

According to the official journal, " the citizen who fights, 
or whose relatives do so, will know at the end of the war 
whether the combatants are victorious or vanquished." 

The Delegate of "War, however, occasionally sent a des- 
patch direct to the journal, and the astonishment of the 
Commune can be imagined, when, on the morning of the 
loth of May, the following four despatches appeared offi- 
cially, one under the other : 

"Montrouge, Bicetre. 

" Respective positions maintained. Bas-Fontenay con- 
tinually attacking." 

"Vautes, Issy. 

" The ' rurals ' don't like to advance in this country." 

"12:30 p.m. 

"The tricolor flag floats on the Fort Issy, abandoned, 
yesterday evening by the garrison. 

" EOSSEL, 
" The Delegate of War." 

" One o'clock. 

" General Brunei, Commandant of the Village of Issy, 
is charged to occupy the position of the Lycee, and to 
connect it with Fort Vanves. 

" ROSSEL, 
" The Delegate of War." 

These were the last official announcements of Colonel 



236 THE PABIS COMMUNE. 

Eossel, and it "vvould certainly seem, from the style of that 
one in which he announces the fall of Issy, that he was 
the conqueror, and not the conquered. He was evidently 
much annoyed concerning the orders giTen directly by 
the Committee of Public Safety, and complained bitterly 
of the disastrous surprise of Moulin-Saquet, which he at- 
tributed to the absence of General "Wrobleski, sent to Issy 
by the Committee of Public Safety. That body denied in 
the most positive manner, through Felix Pyat, that it had 
ever sent any despatch to that officer ; but the next day 
the original, signed, strange to say, by Felix Pyat himself, 
was produced. A discussion, anything but pleasant, then 
ensued, when Felix Pyat gave in his resignation as mem- 
ber of the Committee. 

The next day, when Eossel's despatch was seen posted 
on the walls of Paris, and published in the official journal, 
a hurried meeting was held by the members of the Com- 
mune, and the following proclamation appeared : 

" Paeis, May 9, 1871. 

" It is by a regrettable error that the announcement has 
been made, that the Fort of Issy had been taken and oc- 
cupied by the Versaillese. Nothing of the sort has oc- 
curred, happily, and the flag of the Commune still floats 
on its ramparts ! " 

This contradiction was ordered to be posted and sent to 
all the Mairies by Citizen Vesinier, member of the Com- 
mune. The official journal, however, never published the 
contradiction. 

" The following morning Colonel Eossel sent the sub- 
joined letter, resigning his position as Delegate of "War : 

"Paeis, May Oth. 

" Citizens, members of the Commune : — Being charged 
by you with the provisional direction of the war-opera- 



EOSSEL'S RESIGNATION. 237 

tions, I feel myself incapable of any longer supporting the 
responsibility of a command where every one deliberates 
and no one obeys. 

" When a necessity existed for organizing the artillery, 
the Central Committee of that arm discussed but did not 
order anything. After two months of revolution, the 
Avhole service of your cannons was still dependent on 
the energy of a few volunteers, whose number is insuffi- 
cient. 

" At my arrival at the Ministry, when I desired to 
facilitate the concentration of arms, the requisition of 
horses, the pursuit of men evading service, I asked the 
Commune to turn to useful account the various Munici- 
palities of arrondissement. 

" That body deliberated, but came to no resolution. 

" Later, the Central Committee of the Federation came 
and offered, almost imperiously, its assistance in the ad- 
ministration of the war. Consulted by the Committee of 
Public Safety, I accepted that aid in the clearest manner, 
and I transferred to the Central Committee all the in- 
formation I possessed relative to the organization. Since 
that time that body has been debating, but has not yet 
acted. During that delay the enemy enveloped the fort 
of Issy with adventurous and imprudent attacks, which 
I should punish if I had the smallest military force dis- 
posable. 

" The garrison, badly commanded, was seized with 
panic ; and the officers, having debated, drove away Cap- 
tain Dumont, an energetic man who arrived to command 
them, and while consulting, evacuated their fort, after 
having foolishly spoken of blowing it up, a thing more 
impossible for them than to defend it. 

"That- was not enough. Yesterday, while every one 
ought to have been at work or under fire, the chiefs of 
legions deliberated in order to substitute a new system of 



238 THE PAEIS COMMUNE. 

organization for tlie one I had adopted, in order to make 
up for the improYidence of their authority, always uncer- 
tain and badly obeyed. The result of their meeting was 
a project, at the moment when men were wanted, and a 
declaration of principles, when acts were necessary. 

" My indignation brought them back to other thoughts, 
and they promised me for this day, as their final effort, an 
organized force of 12,000 men, with which I undertook to 
march against the enemy. Those men were to assemble 
at half-past eleven ; it is now one, and they are not ready ; 
instead of being 12,000, they are about 7,000, which is not 
at all the same thing. 

"Thus, the nullity of the Committee of Artillery pre- 
vented the organization of that arm; the incertitude of 
the Central Committee arrested the administration ; and 
the petty preoccupation of the chiefs of legions paralyzed 
the mobilization of the troops. 

" I am not a man to recoil before repression, and yester- 
day, while those officers were deliberating, the execution- 
company awaited them in the court-yard. But I am un- 
willing to assume alone the initiative in an energetic 
manner, to take on me the odium of the executions neces- 
sary to extract from their chaos organization, obedience, 
and victory. Again, if I was protected by the publicity 
of my acts, I might retain my command. But the Com- 
mune has not had the courage to make its proceedings 
known. Twice already I have given you the necessary 
information; and on both occasions, in spite of me, you 
have held a secret committee. 

" My predecessor was wrong to struggle in the midst of 
this absurd situation. Enlightened by his example, and 
knowing that the strength of a revolutionist consists 
solely in the precision of his position, I have two lines to 
choose from — either to crush the obstacle which hinders 
my action, or to withdraw. 



ROSSEL'S ARREST AND ESCAPE. 239 

" I sliall not do the former, for the obstruction is you and 
your feebleness ; and I am unwilling to make an attack 
on the public sovereignty. 

" I therefore retire, and I have the honor to ask you for 
a cell at Mazas. 

"EOSSEL." 

Citizen Eossel, ex-Delegate of War, was arrested the 
following morning by order of the Committee of Public 
Safety, and being brought to the Hotel de Ville, was con- 
fided to the safe-keeping of Citizen Gerardin, a member 
of the Commune. At five in the afternoon. Citizen Av- 
riel announced to the Commune that the prisoner had 
fled, and, strange to say, in company with the citizen ap- 
pointed to guard him. "Warrants were at once issued for 
the arrest of both fugitives. Citizen Gerardin was, two 
days back, one of the five members of the Committee of 
Public Safety. Many were astonished that, after having 
so proudly demanded " a cell in Mazas," M. Eossel should 
have fled precisely at the moment when his request was 
about to be complied with. The ex-Delegate evidently 
knew wherein his safety lay. 

The official journal published the next day, at the head 
of its columns, an address to the people of Paris from the 
Committee of Public Safety : 

" Hotel de Villb, May 12, 1871. 

" To the People of Paris v 

" Citizens : The Commune and the Eepublic have es- 
.caped a mortal peril. 

" Treason has glided into our ranks. The reaction, 
despaimng to triumph over Paris by force of arms, has 
attempted to disorganize the defending body of the capi- 
tal by corruption and gold. This has been flung about in 
handfuls, and has found amongst us consciences to pur- 
chase. 



240 THE PARIS COMMUNE. 

■ " The abandonment of the fort of Issy, announced in 
an impious placard by the wretch who delivered it, was 
only the first act in the drama. A monarchical insurrec- 
tion inside, coincident with the delivery of one of our 
gates, was to follow and plunge us into an abyss. But 
this time again victory remained with right, and all the 
threads of this sinister plot are at present in our hands, 
and most of the guilty parties in custody. 

"If their crime has been frightful, their punishment 
will be exemplary. The court-martial will sit in perma- 
nence, and justice will be done. 

"CiTiZEi^s — The Eevolution cannot and will not be 
conquered. But it is necessary to show to monarchism 
that the Commune is prepared for every emergency, 
rather than see the red flag crushed in its hands. It is 
necessary that the people should well know that upon the 
Commune, and it alone, and upon its energy and its vig- 
ilance, definite success depends. 

" That which the reaction attempted yesterday it will 
attempt again to-morrow. 

" All eyes must watch its actions. 

"All arms must be ready to strike the traitors without 
pity. All the living force of the Eevolution must group 
together for a supreme effort. Then, and then only, will 
triumph be assured. 

"Ant. Arnaud, E. Eudes, F. Gamlon, 
G. Ranvier — The Committee of 
Piiblic Safety" 

There were only four names to this document, Deles- 
cluze having been appointed Delegate of War. 

Delescluze issued a proclamation addressed to the !N"a- 
tional Guard, announcing his appointment as Delegate of 
War. He declared the situation to be extremely grave, 
and that if he consulted his own strength he would decline 



THE NEW DELEGATE OF WAR. 341 

the dangerous functions; but that he counted on their 
assistance to render his task more easy. The question 
seemed to he no longer one of tlie municipal franchise of 
Paris, hut of social equality and the enfranchisement of 
France and the world. Delescluze's first order in the 
official journal ran thus : 

" Every officer coming from the exterior or interior who 
presents himself at the Ministry of "War, or at the Place 
(Place Vendome), without being the bearer of orders from 
his hierarchical, will put himself in a position to be imme- 
diately arrested. 

" Delescluze, 

" Civil Delegate of War." 

On the 10th of May the firing was continuous along 
the whole south-west line. The fort of Vanves, however, 
was the principal point of attack, and shells were thrown 
on it without cessation. The garrison feebly replied, but 
preparation was being made to answer the fire from the 
ramparts. Four guns had already been put in position at 
!N'o. 76, between the gates of Vaugirard and Montrouge, 
and three others were waiting to be mounted. Some of 
the iron-clad locomotives which had been used on the 
western line opposite Asnieres were brought round to this 
side. The batteries of Montretout still continued to bom- 
bard the Point-du-Jour. 

Auteuil and Passy suffered considerably, and the in- 
habitants were moving out in all haste. The headquarters 
of the insurgents had been removed to the Muette gate, 
but the soldiers on duty there could scarcely show them- 
selves outside the ramparts. 

General Dombrowski had a narrow escape from a shell 
while passing along the Quay d' Auteuil. One fell at the 
same time into a manufactory at Grenelle, and went 
through a boiler of a sixty horse power engine, which was 
fortunately not in use at the moment. 
11 



242 THE PAEIS COMMUISTE. 

Courbevoie, l^euilly Bridge, and Valerien continued to 
fire into Porte Maillot, des Ternes, and St. Ouen, while 
the insurgents kept up a continual fire on the villages of 
Asnieres and Gennevilliers. 

The fort of Vanves was evacuated on the 10th by the 
insurgents, and remained for several hours completely 
abandoned. The bombardment of the past week had 
reduced the works to almost as critical a situation as 
those of Fort Issy; the garrison was reduced to about 
two hundred, and the demands for reinforcements had 
remained unattended to. The stores of provisions and 
ammunition had become seriously reduced, and could not 
be replenished, as the fire of the troops covered the only 
road that remained open. The men were comjiletely dis- 
couraged, and were' only retained at their post by the 
energy of their Commander, Durassier, who gave his 
orders with his revolver in his hand, and who appeared 
to have no idea of surrendering the place. The garrison 
seemed to have at length decided on getting rid of this 
troublesome officer; and an artilleryman had been desig- 
nated to shoot him with a pistol, when they were spared 
the crime by a shell from Chatillon, which wounded the 
intended victim seriously enough to compel him to give 
up his command. The garrison then prepared to retreat, 
but the shells continued to fall so heavily that they feared 
to venture outside. They then hoisted a white flag, and 
the fire ceased. An officer, followed by a detachment of 
troops, came out from the trenches to parley, and the 
insurgents asked to be allowed to march out unmolested. 
" No conditions can be granted to insurgents — you must 
surrender," replied the other. 

An insurgent then discharged his musket at the officer, 
but without hurting him ; the soldiers returned the fire, 
and the first rank of the insurgents fell. A few of them 
succeeded in escaping by the ditch, others returned to the 



PKOGKESS OF THE SIEGE. 243 

fort, and the rest were made prisoners. The troops did 
not attempt to occupy the place, believing it to be mined, 
and in the evening two battalions of insurgents arrived, 
and again took possession. The place, however, remained 
quite at their mercy, as it was so far isolated that the only 
communication open was by a trench between the fort 
and Petit- Vanves. The village of Vanves itself was 
entirely occupied by the soldiers, and their outposts were 
in the first houses of Malakoff at less than musket-shot 
distance from the ramparts. The progress of the army at 
Issy was also very apparent, as the insurgents held only 
the Parc-des-Oiseaux, the barricades at the head of the 
convent, and the asylum of Petit-Menages. The in- 
surgent government, however, sent its best troops in that 
direction, as it expected that the assault would be made 
there at the same time as at the Point du Jour. Its 
Zouaves and Turcos, and most devoted battalions, were 
being concentrated in the houses between the gate of 
Vaugirard and the outposts. The Fort of Montrouge 
was completely silent during the day, and the only battery 
that supported Vanves was bastion 'No. 73. 

The greatest confusion seemed at present to prevail in 
the intercourse between the Commune and the Central 
Committee. The conflict which had arisen a short time 
back between those two powers seemed to have terminated 
by the triumph of the latter, which was admitted to 
possess the jurisdiction of the whole National Guard. It 
was generally thought that the order of the Committee 
of Public Safety, entrusting to the Central Committee the 
war administration, had put an end to all competition of 
authority ; but as the co-existence of two such bodies was 
not only totally irregular, but certain to promote rivalry, 
a further disagreement was certain to speedily arise. 

Accordingly, a new transformation of the War Depart- 
ment, evidently directed against the Central Committee, 



244 THE PARIS COMMUI^E. 

had just been decreed. The Commune, after having lately 
consented to all that the other body desired, now brought 
in the Commission of the War — one of its own creations — 
and confided to it the task of regulating the relations of 
the Central Committee with the War Department. On 
its side the Commission of War interdicted in the most 
absolute manner the Central Committee from nominating 
to any employment, and left it only the faculty of present- 
ing candidates. 

The bearing of these two decisions, so indicative of 
antagonism, was clear to every one ; and the most super- 
ficial observer could at once perceive the great difference 
that existed between these restrictive measures and the 
decision of the Committee of Public Safety, confiding the 
war administration to the Central Committee. Subjoined 
are the two decrees — the first being from the Commune : 

" The Commune of Paris : 

" Considering that the co-operation of the Central 
Committee of the National Guard in the War Department 
established by the Committee of Public Safety, is a mea- 
sure necessary and useful to the common cause ; 

"Considering, moreover, that an important point is 
to have its attributes clearly defined, and that for such 
purpose the Commission of War shall be called on to fix, 
in concert with the Delegate of War, the limits of such , 
intervention ; 

" Decreed : 

"Article Unique. — We, the Commune, do hereby de- 
cree that the said Commission and the War Delegate shall 
regulate together the relations of the Central Committee 
with the War Department." 

The Commission of War, on its side, carried out the 
views of the Commune in issuinsr the following order ; 



AIT OFFICIAL REPOET. 245 

Paeis, May 8. 

" The Commission of War : 

"Whereas the decree which gives to the Central Com- 
mittee the administration of war contains the following 
restriction : 

" ' Under the direct control of the Commission of War ; ' 

"We, the said Commission, ordain that the Central 
Committee shall not appoint to any place, hut shall 
merely suggest names upon which we will decide. 

" Accounts concerning the conduct of each service shall 
be sent to us regularly every day. 

" Arnold, Avriel, Delescluze, Tridon, Yarlinr 

The Government of Versailles addressed the following 
despatch to the civil and military authorities throughout 
France : 

" May 9th, 1871, 7 p. bi. 

" The able direction of our operations, seconded by the 
bravery of our troops, has to-day obtained a brilliant 
result. The fort of Issy, after an attack of a week only, 
was occupied this morning by the 38th regiment of the 
line. A considerable quantity of artillery and ammuni- 
tion was found there. We can praise the successful 
audacity with which, our generals conducted the ap- 
proaches under a cross-fire from Vanves, the ramparts, 
and Fort Issy itself. A large share of those prompt and 
decisive results are due to the engineers. Vanves is also 
in such a state that it cannot hold out long. 

" The capture of the fort of Issy is, however, sufficient 
to ensure the success of the plan of attack now under- 
taken. Last night General Douai, after a vigorous can- 
nonade from the formidable battery of Monfcretout, also 
favored by a dark night, crossed the Seine and took up a 
position before Boulogne, facing the bastions 67, ^^, and 
65, forming the Point-du-Jour. Fourteen hundred men 



246 IHE PAEIS COMMUNE. 

from the 18tli foot-cliasseurs, 26th line, 5th provisional 
regiment (Gandil's brigade, division of General Berthaut), 
26th foot-chasseurs, and 37th marching regiment (Da- 
guerre's brigade, division of General Verge), opened the 
trenches about ten in the evening and worked all night till 
daybreak, when they were forced to suspend their labor. 
Their right is on the Seine and their left at the extremity, 
of Boulogne. By means of their activity and courage 
they were at four in the morning sheltered from the 
enemy's fire. They are now at only three hundred yards 
from the fortifications of Paris, that is to say, at a dis- 
tance from which they might, if they pleased, already 
establish a breaching battery. 

"We have now every reason to hope that the hard trials 
of the well-meaning portion of the population of the capi- 
tal are drawing to a close, and that the odious reign of 
the infamous faction which has adopted the red flag for 
its emblem, will soon cease to oppress and dishonor the 
capital of France. It is also to be desired that what is 
now taking place will serve as a lesson to the wretched 
imitators of the Commune, and prevent them from expos- 
ing themselves to the legal severities which await them if 
they dare to carry any further their criminal and ridicu- 
lous enterprise." 

The new Committee of Public Safety was evidently 
much enraged at the above and previous despatch, and 
signalized its entry into military functions by the follow- 
ing most infamous decree published against the " Sieur 
Thiers," declaring that his house, situated in Place Saint 
George, should be razed to the ground : 

" Paeis, 21 Floreal, An. 79. 

"The Committee of Public Safety, considering the 
posting-bill of Sieur Thiers calling liimself Chief of the 
Government in the French Republic ; 



THIERS' HOUSE TO BE DESTROYED. 247 

"Considering further that the said notice, printed at 
Versailles, has been posted on the walls of Paris by order 
of the said Sieur Thiers ; 

'•' That in that document he declared that his army is 
not bombarding Paris, Avhilst each day women and chil- 
dren are victims of the fratricidal projectiles of the Ver- 
sailles troops ; 

" That in it an appeal is made to treason in order to 
obtain au entrance into the city, he being sensible of the 
absolute impossibility of overcoming by arms the heroic 
population of Paris, decrees as follows : 

'' Art. 1. — The furniture and effects on the properties of 
Thiers shall be seized by the Administration of Domains ; 

" Art. 2. — The house of Thiers, situated on Place George, 
shall be razed to the ground; 

'•Art. 3. — Citizen Fontaine, Delegate for the Domains, 
and L. Andrieu, for Public Service, are charged, each in 
so far as he is concerned, with the immediate execution of 
the present order. 

"Arnaud. Eudes, Gambon, Ranvier, — Mem- 
bers of the Comm,ittee of Public Safety." 

It has been seen that the Committee declared war to 
the Gregorian calendar and the French dictionary. As 
will be seen by the text of the decree, the word Saint was 
suppressed from the vocabulary. The Committee were 
bringing matters back to the peurilc and absurd eccentri- 
cities of 1793. 

M. Thiers' house was situated on Place Saint George. 
The only journal in Paris that supported the above decree 
was Eochefort's paper, tlie Mot d'Ordre, which contained 
the subjoined remarks : 

" We publicly affirm that the decree of the Commune 
announcing that M. Thiers' hotel shall be immediately 
razed to the ground, is a necessary satisfaction given to 



248 THE PAEIS COMMUNE. 

public opinion. Nothing could be more just than that 
this old fugitive should see his house fall by such an order, 
since he has the infamy to knock down ours with his 
bombshells. We may add that the resolution taken by 
the Government of Paris will open a new horizon to that 
chief of bombarders, at the same time that it relieves 
him from a great weight. The perverse beings who at 
present compose the population of Paris, in perceiving 
that hitherto not one projectile has arrived at the Place 
Saint George, began to suppose that this ferocious but 
economical inhabitant of Versailles was thinking more 
especially of sparing his own dwelling." 

The official journal of the Commune announced that 
Citizen Billioray was elected member of the Committee of 
Public Safety, to fill the vacancy caused by the appoint- 
ment of Delescluze Delegate of "War. The last named 
citizen proposed to the Commune to place the 128th bat- 
talion of the National Guard on the order of the day 
for gallant conduct, in clearing, under the direction of 
General Dombrowski, during the night, the park of Sa- 
blonville of a party of Versailles troops. 

General Bergeret again appeared on the scene, and was 
ordered by the Commune to place 20,000 earth-sacks at 
the disposal of Colonel Henry. The latter was ordered 
to place thirty large mortars on bastions 59, 60, 61 and 62, 
to bombard Neuilly and Boulogne. 

The Commune also received the following letter: 

" May 13, '71. 

" Citizens : — The troops quartered at the village of Issy 
quitted their positions yesterday during my absence in 
Paris on an order from the Minister of War, and returned 
to their homes. As this fact is the result of a succession 
of causes all more or less connected, and concerning which 
the public ought to be instructed, I demand to be placed 



HEAVY PIGHTIIsrG AT MONTROUGE. 249 

under arrest, and I propose that an investigation be at 
once opened. 

" Eeceive, etc., etc., 

" Colonel Beukel." 

The bombardment of Yanves and Montronge was ex- 
ceedingly heavy during the 11th and 12th. About seven 
on the morning of the 12th, an attack was made by a con- 
siderable force of infantry and gendarmes on the former 
place. Breaches were effected in the walls of some houses 
occupied by the insurgents, and an assault being made, a 
hand to hand fight took place, first in the gardens, and 
then in the houses; but the insurgents were forced to 
abandon the first line of houses, and a constant fusillade 
continued throughout the day. 

At Montrouge the attack commenced by the advance of 
some detachments of cavalry, which were received with a 
sharp fire from the insurgents and forced to retreat. The 
infantry then advanced in a semicircle, with a mitrailleuse 
on each flank, so as to attack the position known as the 
Maison Millaud. The insurgents made several attempts 
to break through their line, but without success, as the 
troops were supported by the batteries of Ohatillon, which 
continued to bombard the village of Montrouge. Some 
shells even fell inside the ramparts. At about ten the 
insurgents were forced to abandon the barricade and fall 
back upon Petit-Montrouge. In the afternoon the troops 
made another advance, and, after some severe fighting, 
drove the insurgents from their new position; but on the 
regulars attempting to occupy the houses of Petit-Mont- 
rouge, they were fired on from the fort, and were forced 
to retire. 

The cannonade was particularly severe to the west. The 
great redoubt at Montretout continued to send its shells 
into Auteuil and Passy, and on to the Point-du-Jour. 

11* 



250 THE PARIS COMMUIsrE. 

They even reached as far as the quay. Others from 
Meudon fell on the bridge of Grenelle, circulation over 
which was now suspended. The concentration of troops 
in the Bois de Boulogne was increased. The army also 
occujDied the village of Boulogne, which, however, was in 
a most pitiful state, as for two weeks before its evacuation 
by the insurgents it was bombarded by two batteries in 
the Park of St. Cloud. 

The insurgents having learned by a reconnaissance that 
a strong barricade had been constructed by the troops at 
the gate leading into the wood, opened fire in that direc- 
tion from two field batteries ranged on the bastions at the 
end of the Avenue de I'Imperatrice. Mont Valerien re- 
plied, doing considerable damage to the drawbridge and 
railway station. 

A new battery, constructed under Fort Issy, and be- 
tween that position and Meudon, assisted in the attack 
against the Point-du-Jour and the position of the bastions 
between it and Vaugirard. 

The insurgents commenced to build up a direct com- 
munication between Fort Vanves and the enceinte, with 
the object of facilitating the retreat of the garrison, in 
case the fort should be taken by the troops. 

The regulars now commenced to arm the bastions of 
Fort Issy with ship-guns for the purpose of directing 
them against the insurgents. They also continued to 
push forward their parallels in the Bois de Boulogne, 
thousands of men being at work on them. Perhaps a 
more imposing camp never was seen than that on the 
Bois. It positively realized the idea of the poet, an army 
encamped and waiting for battle. All visitors to Paris 
know what a magnificent park that is stretching from 
the Allee de Boulogne, at one extremity of the Bois to 
Bagatelle near the other, the river forming the boundary, 
the whole surrounded by a beautiful background of rich 



A DISPLAY AT VERSAILLES. 251 

and luxurious foliage. Here were to be seen thousands 
of white tents in semicircular rows, the headquarters at 
the Longchamps race-course ; the troops seen marching, 
and going through drill, had the appearance of a magnifi- 
cent review, such as took place nearly two months later 
on the same spot, when 150,000 conquerors were reviewed 
before the same civil and military chiefs who now directed 
the active operations of the siege. The air, however, was 
rent by shrieking shells, and the ear pained with the con- 
tinual sound of mitrailleuses and chassepots, and dreadful 
events were drawing near. 

About the time at which the ex-Delegate of War dis- 
appeared from the scene, after having bade the Commune 
adieu in such a singular manner, a patriotic f^te took 
place at Versailles, of which the entire population were 
spectators. 

A cortege, composed of delegations from the different 
branches of the service which had assisted at the opera- 
tions under Fort Issy, passed through the town. Their 
muskets, drums, and twenty-eight of the 109 cannon taken 
at Issy, were covered with flowers and foliage. The flags 
of the 5th, 99th, 94th, and 115th insurgent battalions 
were also carried in the procession. 

At three o'clock the column arrived at the hotel of the 
Prefecture, clarions sounding and drums beating. The 
Chief of the Executive Power, accompanied by the Gene- 
ral-in-Chief, received the deputation of chiefs on the steps 
of the hotel, and felicitated them on their great success. 
The troops responded by shouts for M. Thiers and Marshal 
de . MacMahon. The cortege proceeded to the palace, 
where the soldiers were addressed by M. Leon de Malle- 
ville, Vice-President of the National Assembly, who 
warmly thanked them, in the name of France and her 
representatives. Marshal de MacMahon also issued the 
following order of the day to the army : 



352 THE PARIS COMMTITE. 

" Headquaetbes, Versailles, May 12. 

"Soldiers: — You have responded to the confidence 
which France has placed in you. By your bravery and 
energy you have overcome obstacles opposed to you by an 
insurrection disposing of all the means prepared by us 
against the foreigner. 

" You have successively carried the positions of Meudon, 
Sevres, Eueil, Oourbevoie, Becon, Asnieres, Moulineaux, 
and Moulin- Saquet, and, finally, you have entered the 
fort of Issy. In these different combats, more than 3,000 
prisoners and 150 pieces of cannon have remained in 
your hands. 

" The country applauds your success, and sees in it the 
presage of the end of a struggle which we all deplore. 

" Paris calls us to deliver it from the pretended govern- 
ment which oppresses it ; and before long we shall plant 
the national flag on the ramparts, and obtain the re-estab- 
lishment of order, so imperatively called for by France 
and the whole of Eurojae. 

" Soldiers, you have deserved the gratitude of the country. 

"Duke de MacMahojst, 

" Commander-in-Chief." 

The insurgent gunboats on the Seine had for several 
days been causing considerable annoyance to the Govern- 
ment batteries at Meudon ; and as they remained partly 
concealed under the arches of the Viaduct, they presented 
only a small point of aim for the Versailles guns. The 
shells which fell in the water around them were, of course, 
quite harmless. The regulars, however, established a bat- 
tery of 7-inch guns on Fort Issy, which crosses its fire 
with that of Montretout de Breteuil and Brimborion, in 
cannonading the Point^lu-Jour. From this new position 
a cannonade was opened on the 13th with such effect on 
the gunboats, that one, the Estoc, was pierced through 



GUNBOAT ESTOC FOUNDERS. 253 

the hull by shells in three places, and went down. The 
Commune gives the following report of the occurrence : 

" On Friday morning early, shells began to fall around 
our gunboats, which replied with great courage. The fire 
continued at intervals during the day, and, towards five in 
the evening, the fort of Issy, the battery on the Isle Saint- 
Germain, suddenly unmasked, and another of mortars, 
directed a terrible fire on the boats. These latter, after a 
horrible cannonade, were obliged, by the precision of the 
enemy's aim, to abandon the dangerous post which they 
had occupied for more than a month, but did not move, 
until one of them, the Estoc, got almost split open by the 
Versailles shells, and foundered gloriously, to the cry of 
the sailors, 'Vive la Commune!' All the equipage was 
received on board a smaller vessel, which was in attendance. 
We have to deplore one man severely wounded and several 
contusioned. The citizen delegated to the naval force 
places on the order of the day all the brave seamen of the 
flotilla who, during the space of a month, supported at 
the viaduct of the Point-du-Jour the deadly fire of the 
adverse party." 

The insurgents immediately constructed a strong barri- 
cade on the Quay de Passy, at the angle of the Eue 
Guillon, mounted with guns to command the river. 

On the morning of the 14th the Versailles troops 
attacked simultaneously the insurgents entrenched be- 
tween the forts of Issy and Vdnves. The Communists, 
surprised by a heavy fire of musketry and mitrailleuses, 
abandoned their posts, and fled to Paris. Those who 
occupied the college remained firm. The troops then 
advanced and took possession of the houses, from which, 
during the rest of the day, they kept up a constant fire 
upon the insurgents on the ramparts. 

At Montmartre the cannon on the Butte commenced 



254 THE PAEIS COMMU])q-B. 

firing on the evening of tlie 13th, and continued until 
four o'clock next morning, keeping the population in that 
district in the greatest state of alarm. The aim there 
seems to have been very bad, as many of the shells, instead 
of reaching the Chateau de Becon and Gennevilliers, at 
which points they were aimed, fell at Clichy, and other 
places occupied by the insurgents, who suffered many 
casualties from their own men. The railway station at 
Asnieres was also burnt by the insurgent shells. 

The following is the official announcement of the affair 
of the 12th : 

" Versailles, May 13, 4:33. 

" While our troops undertook, in the Bois-de-Boulogne, 
to open trenches of great length, and the formidable artil- 
lery of Montretout protected the works of approach, the 
2d corps (General Cissey) accomplished, on the side of 
Issy, a most brilliant feat of arms. 

" Yesterday, at noon, the soldiers of General Osmont 
occupied the houses situated at the point where the strat- 
egical road meets that from Chatillon to Montrouge. 
This operation, which was executed by a body of marines, 
a company of the 4th battalion of foot-chasseurs, and a 
detachment of the 113th regiment of the line, had for 
result to cut off all communication between the forts of 
Vanves and Montrouge. 

"A few hours later, Commandant de Pontecoulant, 
with a battalion of the 46th of the line (brigade Bocher), 
carried with the bayonet the Couvent-des-Oiseaux at Issy. 

" In that attack, executed in the most admirable man- 
ner, the men displayed wonderful dash and spirit. The 
losses of the enemy are considerable. We took eight' 
pieces of cannon, several flags, and some prisoners. 

" After that affair, the insurgents, comprehending that 
they could not any longer maintain themselves outside 



FORT V ANTES CAPTURED. 255 

the ramparts, abandoned successively all the parts of the 
village which they still held, again leaving in our hands a 
large number of prisoners. 

" The occupation of the college of Ydnves, effected last 
night, brings our troops to within a few hundred metres 
from the fortifications. 

" Thus, on all sides, we are approaching the final term 
of our operations and tlie deliverance of Paris. 

" Thiers." 

The demolition of M. Thiers' residence was commenced 
on the 13th ; by the evening the roof was off, and the 
workmen had attacked the tops of the walls with their 
pickaxes. 

The house originally belonged to Madame "Dosne, 
mother-in-law of M. Thiers, and now deceased. It was 
left in equal shares to her two daughters, Madame Thiers 
and Mademoiselle Felicie Dosne, and was therefore the 
property of two women, eminently respectable, and en- 
tirely strangers to political affairs. Moreover, Madame 
Thiers has no children, and Mademoiselle Dosne employs 
a handsome fortune in works of charity ; so that the poor 
would have been the greatest losers by this unjustifiable 
act, had not the National Assembly decreed to replace the 
mansion. 

On the afternoon of Sunday, May 14th, the Minister of 
the Interior received at Versailles a telegram announcing 
that the fort of Vdnves had been captured at half-past 
twelve. Since the morning the investment had been com- 
plete, but the operation had been attended with serious 
loss. Amongst others. Captains Eosheim and Durand de 
Yillers had been killed. The insurgents evacuated the 
fort through the quarries and underground passages 
which communicated with the Porte de Montrouge and 
the military road inside the fortifications, between the 



256 THE PAKIS COMMUNE. 

gates of Vdnves and Vaugirard. Some of tlie insurgents 
appear to have lost their way, and to have wandered about 
the catacombs with which the caves were connected, until 
they found an issue. Several remained under ground for 
twenty-four hours, and there were probably others still 
lost in the labyrinth of arched ways which extend an im- 
mense distance to the south of the city. The men who 
arrived by those galleries were in a miserable condition, 
being covered with dirt and worn out with fatigue. It 
was this incident that probably gave rise to the rumor 
that a number of gendarmes, disguised as National 
Guards, had attempted to enter Paris by the sewers. 
The army of Versailles occupied the fort during the after- 
noon, and at once opened trenches to cut off all communi- 
cations with the interior, and prevent a surprise. 

The cannonade during the day from Montretout and 
Mont Valerien on the Point-du-Jour was fearful. The in- 
surgents were compelled to abandon entirely the bastions 
at the ramparts, and they could only now await the as- 
sault. The shells continued to fall on the quay at Passy 
and around the Pont de Grenelle, making fearful havoc 
among the houses. The villas there were besides pil- 
laged in a most barefaced manner by bands of individuals, 
many wearing the uniforms of National Guards. They 
were accompanied by women, and trucks, in which they 
carried off everything portable. 

On the night of the 14th the regular troops succeeded 
in throwing a bridge across the Seine below Asnieres ; in 
this work they were lighted by the glare from two houses 
which were burning near the river. The insurgents at- 
tempted to oppose their passage, but were driven back to 
the ramparts by the fire from Be con and the redoubt of • 
Gennevilliers. The soldiers then spread to the right and 
left along the banks of the river. Exchanging shots with 
the insurgents, they finally advanced to the gate of Clichy 



^ MOEE J0UR2^ALSPE0HIBITED. 257 

and siTrrounded the village. Later in the day a strong 
force of insurgents was concentrated on the Asnieres 
road, and an attempt was made to drive back the troops ; 
but fresh regiments crossed the river, and the attack of 
the insurgents was repulsed. 

A decree was passed by the Commune ordering each 
person in the city to carry a card of identity, which any 
insurgent National Guard could demand to see whenever 
he thought fit. This decree was turned into ridicule by 
most of the Paris journals ; in fact, those in favor of the 
Commune reprehended the order most seriously. All 
the male inhabitants were now National Guards; the 
result was that everybody had a right to arrest everybody 
else. However good, charitable, and peaceful a man may 
be, he has always one or more enemies about, who, in this 
case, could stop him at any street corner, and if per- 
chance he had forgotten his card, carry him away to 
prison. 

Another decree immolated a large number of journals — 
the National, Siecle, Discussion, Corsaire, Avenir Na- 
tional, and Journal de Paris. It was only journals like 
the Cri du Peuple that could survive in the atmosphere of 
Paris. That journal published on the 15th the following 
mysterious article, which at the time was .much derided. 
The said article hinted very strongly at the cherished 
project of blowing up the capital, which eventually turned 
out but too true ; had the Versailles Government given 
the Commune three more days, half the city would have 
been in ruins. 

"We received some days since information of the 
greatest gravity, and of the correctness of which we are 
now completely certain. Every measure has been taken 
to prevent the entry into Paris of any soldier of the 
enemy. The forts may be taken one after the other ; the 



358 THE PAEIS COMMUNE. 

ramparts may fall. Not a man ivill penetrate into the city. 
If M. Thiers is a chemist, he will comprehend us! ! !" 

A delegation was sent from the Hotel de Ville to the 
banking establishment of the Societe Generale to examine 
the books of that immense establishment. Those contain- 
ing the private accounts of the pretended enemies of the 
Commune received especial attention. The amounts 
standing to the credits of those persons were added up, 
and the sum demanded to be paid immediately. 

The sub-director protested against this act of brigand- 
age, but the only reply made was, the Commune wanted 
money, and could not do better than take it from its ad- 
versaries. At one moment the delegates demanded all the 
shares, inscriptions oi rente, and other securities deposited 
in the strong room. The money claimed was paid under 
protest, which made but little difference to them. 

Paschal Grousset published in the ofiicial organ an ad- 
dress to the great towns of Trance, assuring them that, 
after two months' contest, Paris was neither Avearied out nor 
weakened, and calling on them to come to its assistance. 
He specially appealed to Lyons, Marseilles, Bordeaux, 
Toulouse, Nantes, and Lisle. 

There was also an order from Delescluze forbidding all 
officers of the National Guard to appear in their battalions 
with a musket in hand, as for the j)leasure of firing on 
the Versailles troops they neglected their command. The 
Delegate also published the following note : 

"We point out to public indignation the conduct of 
the colonel commanding the 39th of the line. When the 
Versailles troops took possession of the Park of Neuilly, 
that infamous butcher ordered eighteen federal prisoners 
to be shot, swearing that he would do the same with 
every man from Paris that fell into his hands. Let him 
beware on his side of falling into theirs." 



A PROTEST FROM THE MINORITY. 259 

There was also an order from Citizen Fontaine, Direc- 
tor-General of Domains, directing that in reply to the 
tears and menaces of Thiers, the " bombarder," and to the 
laws passed by the rural Assembly, his accomplices, all 
the objects of art and valuable books found in his hotel 
should be sent to the national museums and libraries. 
The furniture was to be sold by auction, and the proceeds 
distributed amongst the families of the" National Guards 
killed defending Paris. A similar destination was assigned 
to the moneys arising from the sale of the house materials. 
This, with numerous other decrees of a similar character, 
created considerable dissensions among the members of 
the Commune. The minority, or more respectable por- 
tion of that body, resolved at the sitting that was to take 
place the following day, to read a declaration intending to 
put an end to the misunderstandings existing; but the 
absence of the majority prevented the transaction of any 
business. In consequence, they published the following 
manifesto : 

" By a special and precise vote the Commune of Paris 
abdicated its power into the hands of a dictatorship, to 
which it has given the name of ' Committee of Public 
Safety.' 

" The majority, by its vote, declared itself irresponsible, 
and abandoned all care of our situation to the new body. 

" The minority, to which we belong, asserts, on the 
contrary, that the Commune owes to the political and 
social revolutionary movement the duty of accepting 
every responsibility and not declining any, however 
worthy may be the hands to which they might be con- 
fided. 

" As for ourselves, we desire, like the majority, the ac- 
complishment of the political and social renovation ; but, 
contrary to its idea, we claim, in the name of the suffrages 



360 THE PARIS COMMUTE. 

we represent, the right to answer ourselves to our electors 
for our acts, without sheltering ourselves behind a su- 
preme dictatorship which our mandate does not permit 
us to recognize. 

" We shall not, therefore, again appear in the Assembly 
until the day when it shall constitute itself into a court 
of justice to try one of its members. 

" Devoted to our great Communal cause, for which so 
many citizens die every day, we shall withdraw to our. 
arrondissements, which have perhaps been too much 
neglected. 

" Convinced, morever, that the question of war at this 
moment takes precedence of all others, the time left us 
from our municipal functions we shall go and pass in 
the midst of our brothers of the National Guard, and we 
shall take our part in this decisive struggle, sustained in 
the name of the people's rights. 

"There still, we shall usefully serve our convictions; 
and we shall avoid creating in the Commune those dis- 
sensions which we all censure ; for we are persuaded that, 
majority or minority, notwithstanding our political diver- 
gences, we shall pursue the same object — 

"Political liberty; and emancipation of the working 
classes. 

" Vive la RepuUique Sociale ! Vive la Commune ! " 

" Charles Beslay, Jourcle, TJieisz, LefranQais, 
Eugene, Gerardin, Andrieux, Vermorel, 
CUmence, Serrailler, Longuet, Arthur 
Arnould, V. Clement, Avrial, Ostyn, 
Franckel,Pindy, Arnold, Voiles, Tridon, 
Varlin, G. Courdet." 

The day following the publication of the above mani- 
festo there was a stormy sitting of the Commune, at 
which sixty-six members were present, including the 




A . ARNOULD 
ComrRune of Pans 
187 1 



HOSTAGES TO BE SHOT. 261 

greater rmmTber of the seceders, who had come to defend 
their conduct. Citizens Pyat, Miot, Amouroux, and 
Grousset strongly condemned the manifesto published, 
the majority blaming the minority in the harshest terms. 
Citizen Urbain proposed that, in consequence of the con- 
duct pursued by the Versailles troops in shooting a yivan- 
diere, five hostages should be at once shot in Paris. After 
a long discussion, the following order of the day was pro- 
posed and voted : " The Commune referring to its decree 
of the 7th April, 1871 " (concerning hostages) " calls for its 
immediate execution, and passes to the order of the day." 

The advance of the Versailles forces on the morning of 
the 16th was more and more apparent, although the in- 
surgents kept up a strong fire from Bicetre and the 
Haute-Bruyeres, on Bagneux and Thiais. The bastions 
70 to 74 still continued to harass the works of the regu- 
lar engineers at Issy. The college there was almost en- 
tirely destroyed, but the fort was opening new batteries 
daily, and was, on the 16th, cannonading the ramparts at 
Grenelle and the Point- du- Jour, from three different posi- 
tions. On the west the insurgents had again the rash 
idea of erecting a battery on the Trocadero. During the 
morning it opened a fire on Mont Valerien, and, as before, 
provoked from that fortress such a shower of projectiles 
that the guns had to be abandoned, while the houses 
around suffered severely. Montmartre once more opened 
fire on Gennevilliers, this time with more success ; but, as 
at Trocadero, it resulted in drawing a fearful bombard- 
ment from the Versailles batteries. 

In the interior of Paris, the Commune meanwhile was 
preparing to amuse its adherents by an entirely new spec- 
tacle. 

The decree had gone forth — the column must fall. The 
monument erected to glorify the deeds of the Grand Army 
was declared incompatible with the era of peace and good- 



262 THE PARIS COMMUNE. 

will, which was to date from the yictory of Communal 
doctrines. As though France had not need of all her 
souvenirs of military glory ; as though her humiliation 
and defeat of the preceding months had not been com- 
plete ; as though the remembrance of former victories did 
not raise a Frenchman's hopes, proving what his country 
might yet be, by comparison with what she had been ; as 
though the "very Communists themselves were not proving, 
each moment, by arbitrary arrests, cruel executions, and 
fratricidal war, their utter want of anything resembling 
fraternity or good-will — proving, in fact, the utter false- 
hood of their lying doctrine — ^the column was condemned. 
On Monday, May 15th, a large crowd assembled in the 
Rue de la Paix and Place de I'Opera, to see, some their 
hopes, others their fears, realized. Faint protests had 
been raised in several of the Parisian journals against this 
act of vandalism, but the Commune had established too 
firmly its iron yoke upon the neck of the people to fear 
much opposition in carrying out its projects. For many 
days men had been working hard, sawing through the 
base of the column, and loosening the bronze that coiled 
around it. The grand ceremony of its overthrow was an- 
nounced for Monday. The crowd in the streets was dense ; 
one could have walked upon the heads of the multitude, 
so close did they stand ; the balconies of the Eue de la 
Paix were filled with ladies, and all the windows, mirrors, 
etc., of the houses, were pasted, with paper to neutralize 
the expected concussion. A long, narrow bed of dung, 
sand, and branches, had been spread on the square to 
deaden the shock of the falling mass. Three ropes were 
fastened around the top of the column, just beneath the 
statue, which communicated with a windlass and anchor 
placed in the centre of the road at the entrance of the 
Rue Neuve des Capucines. The excitement was intense. 
Fears were entertained that old houses in the neighbor- 



THE TRICOLOR OK THE COLUMN". 263 

liood miglit be overthrown by the shock, that balconies 
would fall, slates tumble from the roofs, or that the rush- 
ing mass would fcrash through the vaulted arch into the 
sewers beneath the road. At four in the afternoon a 
cordon of National Guards pushed back the crowd as far 
as the Eue Neuve St. Augustin, leaving an empty space 
along the Eue de la Paix. This was watered in true 
Parisian style, and all prepared themselves for the great 
event. Movements were distinguishable on the small 
balcony running round the top of the column ; two men 
were busily engaged in tying something to the hand of 
the gTeat Emperor. Impossible to understand their oc- 
cupation, when a breath of wind unfurled the tricolor, 
many murmurs were to be heard in the crowd ; people, 
whose hatred of the author of Sedan had extended back- 
wards to his great ancestor, were yet loth to see their 
glorious flag brought low. The intended insult of the 
Commune was the most overwhelming tribute to the 
great man's memory ; a thrill of joy shot through many 
hearts at his association with the flag. A prayer rose to 
heaven, " God, let their fall be as great and as com- 
plete," and the prayer was answered in God's own time. 

As the windlass was about to be turned, and when the 
moments of the column seemed numbered, a gust of wind 
overthrew the flag. Unwilling to be foiled in its malicious 
design, the Commune, owing to the lateness of the hour, 
and the time required to re-erect the flag, postponed the 
ceremony to the following day. 

On Tuesday morning the Officiel announced the cere- 
mony for that day at two p. m., and the concourse was 
greater than ever. The arrangements were all so bad that 
hopes were entertained that this second attempt would 
also prove a failure. The ropes attached to the column 
were very slender, while two beams, one on either side, 
were to give it the proper inclination as it fell. The col- 



264 THE PAEIS COMMUNE. 

limn had always leant a little towards the Minist^re des 
Cultes, and many feared it would take the wrong direc- 
tion, and were uncertain where to place themselves for 
safety. It was expected, also, that the bronze Emperor 
would become detached from his base, and be shot into the 
air to a great distance, carrying terror and danger in his 
track. The members of the Commune were seated on the 
balcony of the Ministry of Justice, to witness the specta- 
cle. At half -past three General Bergeret arrived on horse- 
back with his staflF, and passing through the crowd, sta- 
tioned himself, with his escort, in front of the spot where 
the column was to fall. At a given signal several bands 
struck up a medley of patriotic airs, the men at the wind- 
lass began to move, and all eyes were anxiously turned to- 
wards the column's height, when one of the ropes snapped 
suddenly, overthrowing, in its whirl, several men at the 
windlass. Two or three of these were seriously hurt, and 
succumbed to their wounds on the following day. 

The attempt had failed, and it was hoped that the 
Commune had abandoned its project ; but no — more ropes 
and apparatus were sent for, the bands continued to play, 
horsemen galloped round the square, while the great figure 
still looked down on the life and turmoil below, smiling 
on his baffled enemies. 

It was long after four o'clock before the new ropes 
arrived, and some time passed before they were finally 
hoisted to their places. They were not attached to the 
capstan like the others, but were held on each side of the 
road by sailors, fifty at each rope. As the windlass turned, 
these ropes were to be alternately jerked. These prepara- 
tions were regarded with great contempt, and it was vdtli 
difficulty that the crowd could be kept out of the way of 
immediate danger. Suddenly a cry of horror .burst from 
the multitude — all hearts stood still — the great mass tot- 
tered and fell, breaking, as it reached the ground, into 




ROUSSELLE 
Commune of Pans 

1871. 



FALL OF THE COMMUNE. 265 

uumberless fragments. A cloud of dust rose for a mo- 
ment and obscured the scene. When it melted away, red 
banners were seen floating from the base where once had 
stood the mighty monument. The bands struck up the 
Marseillaise, and the crowds rushed towards the square. 
Many succeeded in effecting their entrance, and mo anted 
on the ruins of the column. A company of marines, 
drawn up across the Eue de la Paix, soon succeeded, how- 
ever, in checking the mass. 

Bergeret, meanwhile, decorated with his red scarf and 
tassels, mounted on the pedestal, and thus addressed the 
crowd : 

" CiTizEisrs : — The 2Gth of Floreal will be memorable in 
our history. Thus we triumph over military despotism — 
that bloody negation of the rights of man. The first 
Empire placed the collar of servitude about our necks — 
it began and ended in carnage, and left us a legacy of a 
second Empire, which was finally to end in the disgrace 
of Sedan." 

The Emperor's statue was separated from the column, 
and had fallen a little beyond the heap. It lay a wreck, 
with the head severed from the body, and one arm broken. 

The equestrian statue of Louis XIV once stood on the 
site of the column, but was overturned by the sans-cu- 
lottes. The spot remained vacant until 1806, when Napo- 
leon determined to consecrate it to the glories of the Aus- 
terlitz campaign. The first stone was laid on the 18th of 
August. The foundations were the same that served for 
Louis XrV's statue. The bas-reliefs were cast by Launay. 
The column was of Doric order, built of stone, coated 
with four hundred and twenty-five plaques of bronze, 
moulded in bas-reliefs, which wound round the shaft from 
pedestal to lantern. These bas-reliefs represented the his- 
tory of the campaign of 1805. 
12 



266 THE PAEIS COMMUNE. 

We cannot do better than to quote here a well-known 
description of the column and the history it represents : 

" The inscription was by Visconti, and ran as follows : 

" ' Neapolio -. Im'p. Aug. 

" ' Monumentum . Belli . Germanici, 

" 'Anno . MDOCCV. 

6i i Trimestri . Spatio . Ductu . Suo . Prqfligati. 

" 'Ex . ^re . Capto. 

" ' GloricB . Exercitus . Maximi . Dicavit.' 

"The bas-reliefs were three feet eight inches high, and 
circled the column 22 times, making a spiral 840 feet long. 
They were a series of tableaux, 76 in number, having for 
their subjects the principal incidents of the Austerlitz 
campaign. These were selected by the Emperor himself, 
and the inscriptions which accompanied them, and were 
engraved on a cordon under the bas-reliefs, were written 
by ^e savant Denon' and the Prince of Wagi-am. 

"Napoleon's first intention was that the statue upon 
the lantern of the column should be, not his own, but 
Charlemagne's. After Jena, Eylau, and Eriedland, how- 
ever, he changed his mind, or allowed his flatterers to 
change it for him, and a statue of himself by Chaudet 
was placed upon the column. This gave way, in 1844, to 
another by Seurre, in which the great Emperor was repre- 
sented standing on a heap of cannon-balls, dressed in his 
' costume de lataille.' The hat, the epaulettes, the boots, 
the ' redingote a revers,' the lorgnette, and the sword worn 
at Austerlitz, were copied exactly. The statue was cast 
in gun-metal taken from the enemy, ' under the Empire, 
let it be well understood,' adds the writer of the year, 'for 
if we make war uow-a-days we do not take cannon.' The 
present figure succeeded M. Seurre's, and is one of Napo- 
leon Ill's tributes to the memory of his uncle. 



DESCEIPTION or THE COLUMiq". 267 

" The bas-reliefs begin with the breaking up of the 
Camp de Boulogne. The first represents the troops in 
review, and the Havre flotilla rounding Cape d'Alpreck. 
The commentator construes the appearance of the ships 
while Napoleon was inspecting his army into a desire 
on the part of Ocean to pay also its tribute to the Em- 
peror. Then we have the departure of the various corps 
from Boulogne, Brest, Utrecht, and Hanover on the great 
converging march, which, until last year, was perhaps 
the finest campaign opening ever planned. The troops 
are represented taking farewell of the sailors who were to 
have ferried them over to a battle of Dorking ; we see them 
on the march, crossing rivers, entering towns, etc., and in 
their various arms of artillery, cavalry, and infantry. In 
the sixth tableaux the Emperor appears before his servile 
Senators at Paris^ and informs them that the war against 
the third coalition has begun. The will of the eternal 
enemies of Europe is accomplished (said the Emperor on 
that occasion), the peace I hoped would continue is 
broken ; blood will flow, but the Erench name will win a 
new lustre. A few words like these were quite enough to 
cover the demand for 80,000 men of the next year's con- 
scription. The tableaux continue ; the soldiers are still 
on their road, crossing the Ehine at Mayence, Mannheim, 
Spires, Dourlach, Strasburg— no less than five different 
places. Then comes the Emperor himself, riding over the 
bridge of Kehl, with his headquarter staif, on the 1st of 
October, exactly one month after the breaking up of the 
camp. The submissive Electors of Baden and Wurtem- 
berg, who were rewarded with crowns after Austerlita, 
receive their benefactor ; and in the 15th tableau the 
first blow is struck at Donowerth by the 4th corps, thirty- 
six days from Boulogne. Then we have Murat clearing 
the road to Augsburg and Ulm by the combat at Wertin- 
gen, and the passage of the Danube at Neuburg by the 2d 



268 THE PAEIS COMMUNE. 

and 3d corps. The plot tliickens, Augsburg is entered, 
and the Emperor harangues the troops, ' after the manner 
of the Eoman Emperors/ upon the position of the enemy, 
and the imminence of a great battle. The 34th tableau 
depicts Soult's success at Menningen ; a spirited relief and 
a long inscription told how TSTey forced the bridge of El- 
chingen, which gave him his title of Due ; the enemy are 
driven back on their intrenchments before Ulm, and the 
Emperor arrives at headquarters on the 15th of October. 
Two days afterwards (31st tableau) Berthier, surrounded 
by his staff, receives General Mack's capitulation. The 
panorama continues ; the garrison of Ulm file out and lay 
down their arms ; the Emperor receives General Mack, in 
tableau 33, and then came what the legend calls ' a sujoerb 
and ingenious allegory, dedicated to the glory of the Em- 
peror Napoleon.' The allegory is as simple as it is superb, 
for it is nothing more nor less than Victory writing on a 
shield the words, ' Capitulation d'Ulm.' This is, or was, 
succeeded by the entries into Munich and Brannan, the 
key of Austria, and by passages of the Inn and Traun; 
a little further on the 76th regiment regain the colors 
lost in a former campaign, and now found in the captured 
arsenal of Innspruck. A few more scenes, among which 
is the desperate fight at Krems, near Durnstein (where 
Frenchmen met Russians in a narrow defile and were so 
crowded together that they could not use their muskets 
and fought with unfixed bayonets), brought the spectator 
to the quarters at Schonbrunn, the entry into Vienna, 
and the surrender of the keys of the capital. A deputa- 
tion from Paris arrive with felicitations, and then the 
Emperor is seen quitting Vienna with many of his Gen- 
erals for Braun. The great blow is impending ; a recon- 
naissance is pushed as far as Olmutz ; Presburg is entered ; 
a strong position is taken up, and the heights of Sauton 
are occupied by the artillery. On the night of the 1st of 



AKOTHER FETE AT VERSAILLES. 209 

December the Emperor, wrapped in his cloak, visits the 
advanced posts; it is the anniversary of his coronation, 
and the soldiers light pine torches till the whole camp is 
illuminated. 

" High up the column began the series of bas-reliefs in 
which its climbing glories culminated. The sun of Aus- 
terlitz rises, and the Emperor was to be seen seated on 
horseback giving orders to the Marshals and Generals. A 
furious cavalry charge breaks a column of the enemy's 
infantry, captive Generals surrender their swords and 
Oudinot's footguards drive a body of Eussians into the 
icy lake of Augerd. In the next scene the battle is won, 
the Emperor of Austria has craved an interview, and is 
asking his Ion frere to grant an armistice. Further on 
still French soldiers carry off cannon and other arms from 
the Vienna Arsenal. Talleyrand arrives at Presburg to 
negotiate the treaty, which is signed by ISTapoleon the day 
after Christmas-day. St. Mark's Lion and some richly- 
decorated gondolas denote the cession of the Venetian 
States, the Electors of Bavaria and Wiirtemberg receive 
their Crowns, the Imperial Guard enter France bearing 
captured standards, the Emperor returns to Paris, and 
passes under the Arc do Triomphe, a car laden with 
spoils of war follows, and, last of all, hundred- voiced Fame 
proclaims the high deeds of the campaign of 1805, while 
old Seine, reclining on his flood, listens to the story of so 
many glorious battles." 

At the same time the insurgents were committing the 
insensate and odious crime of overthrowing the Venddme 
Column, another public fete was taking place in Versailles 
similar to the preceding one. The cannon captured at 
Vanves were being presented to the National Assembly. 
The President, M. Grevy, harangued the soldiers. Marshal 
de MacMahon complimented the engineers, and issued 



270 THE PARIS COMMUNE. 

the following order of the day in regard to the Yendome 
Column : 

"Soldiers: — The Yenddme Column has just fallen; 
the foreigner had respected it. Persons who call them- 
selves Frenchmen have dared to throw down before the 
eyes of the Germans, who are watching us, that testimony 
of the victories of our fathers over combined Europe. 

" Did they hope, the miserable authors of the outrage 
on the nation's glory, to efface the memory of the mili- 
tary virtues of which that monument was the glorious 
symbol ? 

" Soldiers ! if the recollections which the Column 

brought to mind are no longer engraven on bronze, they 

will nevertheless remain living in your hearts ; and taking 

our inspiration from them, we shall know how to give to 

France a fresh pledge of bravery, devotedness, and 

patriotism. 

"Marshal de MacMahon", 

" Duke de Magenta." 

M. Thiers was exceedingly moved when he heard of the 
fall of the Column, and exclaimed in the Assembly, 
" Now I am ashamed of leing a FrencJiman ! " but his 
cry of grief was soon drowned in a concert of patriotic 
outcries ; and on the 22d of May the National Assembly, 
by a unanimous vote, decreed the following law : 

" The Column of Place Yend6me shall be rebuilt at the- 
expense of the State, and surmounted by a statue of 
France." 

The following day, and as if to punish Paris for its 
crime, a horrible explosion was heard about six o'clock in 
the evening, which struck terror and dismay into the 
hearts of the inhabitants. Several hundreds of women 
and children were victims to this terrible calamity. 



CAETEIDGE EACTOEY EXPLODES. 271 

The cartridge factory, situated between tlie Champs-de- 
Mars and the Avenue Eapp, blew up. The concussion 
was felt over nearly the whole of the city, but in the 
immediate vicinity the effect was lamentable in the ex- 
treme. As soon as the first dreadful detonation had been 
heard, it was followed in the space of a few seconds by 
thousands of smaller ones in every direction, arising from 
the combustion of cartridges — many millions of which 
were stored on the premises — and of boxes of grape-shot, 
which burst in the air, and descended in a perfect storm 
of blackened lead. An immense column of smoke rose 
over the spot in majestic form, and floated slowly away to- 
wards the southwest. Its disappearance was, unfortunate- 
ly, followed by another mass, which rose more rapidly, and 
which, by its crimson reflections, showed that a conflagra- 
tion had arisen. Such was in fact the case, as the wooden 
huts in the Champs-de-Mars were burning fiercely. 

The agitation in the quarter was indescribable — men, 
women, and children rushing about in the wildest dis- 
order in search of parents or relatives, absent at the 
moment from their homes. Their terror was increased by 
the fact that at first no one knew what had occurred, 
every one believing that a bombshell had fallen in his 
own house. ISTor was the alarm by any means allayed, 
when the real nature of the accident became known, as 
the rumor spread rapidly that all danger was not over, 
and fears were entertained that a store of shells near the 
building destroyed might also blow up. In fact the in- 
surgents, who hastened to the spot as soon as possible to 
maintain order, told all the inhabitants to retire to their 
own houses, and even recommended them to seek tempo- 
rary shelter in their cellars. Happily, that second horror 
was spared the district ; and after a short time the people 
began to reappear, and turned their attention to assisting 
the wounded, large numbers of whom might be seen being 



272 THE PARIS COMMUNE. 

transported tlirougli the streets, many bleeding profusely, 
principally from cuts received by fragments of glass, 
almost every windov?" within a considerable radius having 
been demolished. In many houses the sashes, frames, and 
doors were blown out, and iron-shutters twisted into the 
strangest forms. In some places the morsels of glass were 
lying on the pavement to the depth of more than an inch. 

The hospital of Gros-Oaillou was seriously injured on 
its roof, through which, a large shot had fallen. The 
patients rushed out in the greatest alarm, those able to 
walk hurrying off with the first garments they could lay 
hold of — many of them with only a dressing-goWn on, 
and with bare feet. They were all sent to the Hotel-des- 
Invalides, as well as their companions, who had to be 
removed in vehicles. 

Ordinarily about 800 women were employed at the 
establishment; but fortunately they had left at five in- 
stead of seven o'clock, their usual hour. 

The population at first believed that the disaster was 
the work of an incendiary, and the report spread that it 
had been caused by an agent of the Versailles Govern- 
ment. JSTumerous persons were arrested as being im- 
plicated in the matter. The general idea, however, pre- 
vailed that it was either caused by an accident or the fall 
of a sheU. The insurgents wished to convey the idea that 
it was caused by the Government ; and the official organ 
of the Commune published the following note, throwing 
on the authorities of Versailles the odium of this terrible 
explosion : 

" Paris, S7 Floreal, an. 79. 

" The Government of Versailles has just disgraced itself 
with a fresh crime, the most frightful and the most 
dastardly of all. 

" Its agents set fire to the cartridge manufactory on the 
Avenue Eapp, and produced a frightful catastrophe. 



NUMBER OF THE WOUNDED. 273 

" The number of yictims is estimated at more than a 
hundred. Women were blown to pieces as well as a child 
at the breast. 

"Four of the criminals are in custody." 

The official journal also says: "Certain officers of the 
staff of the National Guards who failed in their service in 
order to indulge in an orgie at Peter's Restaurant with 
women of light character, were arrested yesterday by order 
of the Committee of Public Safety. They have been sent 
to Fort Bicetre with shovels and pickaxes for service in 
the trenches, and the women sent to St. Lazare, to make 
earth-bags." 

The Commune, one of the organs of the insurgents, had 
been for some days sneering at the action of the authorities 
at the Hotel de Ville, becoming more and more indignant 
at their decrees. It said, on the morning of the 18th : 

"Have they lost their heads at the Hotel de Ville? 
Are they going to play at parliamentarism ? What ! the 
intelligent minority is withdrawing, not to Mount Aven- 
tine, but under the tent of inaction. It is abandoning 
the citadel to the ignorant, material, and grotesque element, 
to the brawlers of the clubs, the mountebanks of 1793, 
the popes and canons of fusionism, to the believers in 
Robespierre and the Pere Toureuil, to ghosts and reverends, 
and to the carnival of the revolution ! What remains of 
the Commune? The upright Gambon and the stoical 
Delescluze ; with Diog^nes-Pyat seeking in vain at noon 
with his lantern for an honest man, and in the evening, 
having become a rag-gatherer, turning over the heaps of 
rubbish to find some useful scraps. To-morrow he will 
blow out his candle, convinced of the perfect uselessness 
of his search. What so unusual has then taken place ? 
The pedants, hair-brained men, and ambitious nullities, 

12* 



274 THE PARIS COMMUNE. 

without science or knowledge, are in a majority. And 
that result is in no way extraordinary. Considering the 
state of our early instruction, education, and prejudices, 
and our infatuation especially, for every one intelligent 
man to be found, there are a hundred idiots." 

The devout and religious portion of Paris attributed 
the fearful explosion on the Avenue Eapp to a judgment 
on the insurgents for their sacrilegious violation of the 
Church of Notre-Dame des Victoires. This church, sit- 
uated in the Place des Petits Peres, was founded in 1629 
by Louis XIII. It was used during the Eevolution of 
1789 as an exchange, and was, on the 17th of May, about 
five o'clock, or one hour before the explosion, entered by 
a Commissaire de Police by the name of Le Moussu, at the 
head of the 159th battalion of National Guards (insur- 
gents), belonging to the Bellev.ille Quarter. The priests 
were about finishing the service of the " Mois de Marie " 
when they were expelled in the most brutal manner, and 
with much difficulty, the worshippers protesting in the 
loudest manner ; the women fled to the Chapel of the 
Virgin. The Abbe Delacroix saved the consecrated arti- 
cles, which he conveyed to the Church of St. Eoch. The 
Citizen Le Moussu, after having arrested two vicars of the 
parish, the Abbes du Courroy and Amodru, and two mem- 
bers of the Council, gave the order to sack the church. A 
rage truly infernal was exhibited in this Communal orgie. 
The tabernacles were torn up, the altars demolished, the 
confessionals overturned, the marble slabs of the temple 
broken. The body of Saint Aureha, which reposed under 
the altar of the Virgin, and that of the venerable Des 
Genettes, former curate of the parish, and founder of the 
Archi-Confrerie, buried at the foot of the same altar, were 
profaned. The vaults enclosing the dried remains of the 
Augustines, who died in the old convent, were violated. 




BILLIORAY 
Cammune of Pans 

187 1 



A PRIGnTFUL ORGIE. 275 

At the same time the contribution boxes were robbed, the 
church was despoiled of all its ornaments, without excep- 
tion, and the fury of the miserable creatures only ended 
when the sanctuary presented an aspect of complete ruin. 

Then commenced an orgie not less revolting than the 
other. The money found in the church was divided be- 
tween these pillaging heroes, and served to pay the ex- 
pense of a bacchanalian feast, at which the cmitinieres and 
other women of doubtful habits took part. Then returning 
to the revolutionary habits of '93, they clothed themselves 
in the sacred vestments of the church, and went through 
the religious ceremonies, such as administering the sacra- 
ment, etc. This saturnalia only ended when, overpowered 
with drunkenness and fatigue, they fell asleep on the floor 
of the sacred edifice. 

The next day they made an exhibition of the remains 
found in the vaults, showing from a distance, to the people 
in the Place, a wax head of St. Aurelia, covered with hair, 
which they pretended was the head of a young girl lately 
murdered by the priests, and, to complete the hideous spec- 
tacle, they administered the communion to one another, 
using the bread not consecrated found in the sacristy, and 
scattering the rest to the winds. 

An arrangement had been entered into between 'the 
Government at Versailles and four members of the Com- 
mune, viz., Billioray, Cerisier, Mortier, and Pilotell, to 
open the gate at the Point-du-Jour, for which service they 
secured 25,000 francs each. These honest Communists 
were to appear at the gate at half-past one o'clock at night, 
disguised as National Guards; but, in the meantime, 
Cerisier took fright and refused to act, and when the 
troops appeared, they were forced to beat a precipitate re- 
treat under a murderous fire from mitrailleuses. 

The cannonading raged along the whole line on the 
evening of the 18th with a violence hitherto unequalled 



276 THE PARIS COMMUNE. 

since the commencement of the siege. The fusillade was 
also continuous in the Bois de Boulogne, while in the 
south the greatest alarm prevailed during the whole day. 
Two batteries were unmasked on the north front of the 
fort of Vdnves, one to take the village of Montrouge ob- 
liquely, the other to attack the gate of the ramparts lead- 
ing to Issy. The heavy cannonade was supposed to be 
the prelude to an assault, and several battalions were 
under arms in the Avenue d'Orleans, to be sent to rein- 
force any point on which the attack might be made, l^o 
attempt was however made^ and the terrible cannonade 
of the whole day and night left both parties in the same 
positions. 

The insurgents attempted a sortie during the day, but 
were repulsed 'with great loss. Various battalions re- 
turned to Paris apparently much dispirited. They at- 
tacked the regulars with a force 6,000 strong, and at first 
were successful ; but reinforcements coming up, they were 
attacked in turn, and defeated with frightful slaughter. 

The insurgents continued to carry out the conscription 
with increased vigor, death being threatened to those who 
refused to serve. 

The decrees of the Commune became more and more 
severe as their hour approached. The Committee declared 
its intention to blow up Paris sooner than capitulate. A 
decree arrested all prostitutes and drunkards; another 
suppressed nine more journals ; another, from the Cen- 
tral Committee, stated that all inhabitants of Paris must 
return to their homes within forty-eight hours, after that 
time the claims in the Eentes standing in their names in 
the state funds would be destroyed. 

Cluseret was tried by the Commune and set at liberty 
on the 20th. The command of the important post at 
Montmartre was also given him. 

The court-martial presided over by Colonel Gois also 



SERIOUS FOEEBODINGS. 277 

tried the Lieutenant-Colonel, Daviot, and Commandant 
Vanostat of the 115th battahon of the National Guard, 
for having, without any superior orders, abandoned their 
posts at the Convent of Issy, thereby allovs^ing the po- 
sition to be occupied by the enemy. It appeared that 
the battalion was seized with a panic and took to flight 
towards Paris ; it had lost twenty-six men the night be- 
fore in an attack badly conducted, and had become sadly 
disorganized. The two prisoners attempted to stop the 
men, but without effect ; and, finding that they could not 
induce them to return, had at last yielded to the current, 
and proceeded themselves towards the gates of the city. 
Several witnesses deposed to the general good conduct and 
courage of the prisoners, but the court condemned Daviot 
to fifteen years, and Vanostat to ten years imprisonment ; 
further, it ordered that the 115th battalion be struck off 
the list/rand the men drafted into other bodies of the 
same force. 

A proclamation was published announcing that the 
Central Committee had, on the proposition of the Com- 
mittee of Public Safety, and with the approval of the 
Commune, undertaken the Administration of War since 
the 19th. 

M. Mortier, a member of the Commune, proposed the 
abolition of religious '^ worship in all churches, and ex- 
pressed the wish that they might be only opened for lec- 
turing on Atheism and annihilating old prejudices. 

Eeports were spread throughout the city on the even- 
ing of the 20th that Fort Montrouge had been evacuated. 
The Central Committee ordered larger numbers of troops 
and quantities of materiel to be dispatched to the threat- 
ened points. Several members of the Commune had also 
left for the advanced posts among the troops. There was 
something in the air which presaged immediate danger. 

While the Commune of Paris was excited by a forebod- 



278 THE PAEIS COMMUNE. 

ing of evil, Versailles was excited by great good news. On 
the evening of the 20th M. Thiers issued a circular, dated 
noon of the same day, in which he said : 

" Several prefects have demanded that news should be 
published ; the following answer has been sent them :— 
Those persons who are uneasy are greatly mistaken. 
Our troops are working at the approaches, and at the 
moment of writing the breaching batteries continue their 
fire upon the walls. Never have we been so near the end. 
The members of the Commune are busy making their 
escape. Henri Eochefort has been arrested at Meaux ! " 

Rochefort arrested ! the demagogue, the falsifier, and 
coward arrested with the lie in his mouth ! arrested escap- 
ing from Paris on the 20th of May! It seems some few 
days before a letter, written by him to his mistress in 
Arcachon, had fallen into the hands of the Prefect of 
Bordeaux, who sent it to M. Thiers. In this letter, he 
said, " Leave at once for Brussels, and engage the same 
apartment as iefore ; I will meet you there on the 20th" 
The Gaulois of Versailles published this letter, which 
Eocheforfc repudiated in the most indignant manner ; and 
in his journal, the Mot dWrdre, of date the 20th of May, 
printed on the 19th, the last number published, he said: 
" I would not have condescended to notice this con- 
temptible invention, but several journals have reproduced 
it. I have only at Arcachon my sister, my daughter, and 
little boy, who came to see me when I was sick. I wrote 
them some days since, not to invite them to retain an 
apartment at Brussels, but to join me at Paris, where I 
have but little fear of the entry of the Versaillese. The 
only dread the publication of this note gave me was that 
my letter had fallen into the hands of the Prefect of Bor- 
deaux, because it contained a check addressed to my 
family to pay their expenses from Arcachon to Paris ; and 




H^ ROCHEFQRT 
W of Mot d'Qrdre: 



187 1, 



ARREST OF ROCHEFORT. 279 

it is possible that, faithful to the traditions of the Empire, 
that functionary has at the same time kept my letter 
and pocketed my money." 

As soon as the Minister of the Interior had read Eoche- 
fort's denial in the Mot dIOrdre, he supposed with reason 
that tlie ex-president of barricades would leave for Brus- 
sels the same day. The Minister immediately sent tele- 
graphic despatches to all the departments, ordering the 
surveillance to be doubled. At two o'clock in the morn- 
ing he received a despatch from Meaux stating that 
Eocheforfc had been arrested in the act of getting into the 
railroad train. He had left Paris in a carriage accom- 
panied by his secretary, Mouriot, and was travelling 
under the name of Le Comte de Saint Luce, a respectable 
souvenir of his true name — Comte Henri de Kochefort 
Lugay. 

Previous to Eochefort's departure from Paris, and to 
hide his flight, which must have been discovered the fol- 
lowing day if his journal ceased to appear without notice, 
the following letter was sent to the editor of the Poli- 
tique : 

" MoKSiEUR LE Eedactetjr : — I would be much obliged 
if you would announce to your readers that in presence of 
the situation of the press the Mot d'Ordre believes it in 
keeping with its dignity to cease to appear." The dignity 
of a " Lanterne." 

Eochefort was brought into Versailles in an omnibus 
drawn by two horses, escorted by a squadron of gendarmes 
and Chasseurs d'Afrique. He was accompanied by his 
secretary, Mouriot,, and four policemen in plain clothes. 
He had had his moustache cut oflf before leaving Paris. 

When the cortege entered the Eue Eeservoirs every one 
ran into the street, and shouts of execration were raised 
on every side. Citizens of all classes joined in the de- 



280 THE PAEIS COMMUNE. 

monstration. ''A has l' assassin ; a 2^ied h brigand; a 
mort ! " The people were indignant that he was riding 
in an omnibus, and it was with difficulty the cavalry pre- 
vented them from dragging him out and inflicting sum- 
mary execution. He was, however, safely lodged in jail, 
and but for the precaution taken by the Government, the 
world would have been spared the infliction of his name 
having been brought again before it. The coward had 
continually poured oil on the smouldering mass, and 
when it flamed he fled. . 

Madame Tussaud, hearing of his arrest, sent an agent 
immediately to Versailles, and made a very liberal offer 
to the Government for his clothes. 



CHAPTER IX. 



Porte St. Cloud— Communication of M. Ducatel— Entrance of the troops into 
Paris— Fourth Army Corps— Army of Reserve— General Ladmirault at the 
gates of Passy and Auteuil — Entrance of General de Cissy— Arrest of Assi— 
Entrance of the troops long unknown in the city— Plan of attack— March of 
the different corps — Occupation of the Park Monceaux— Confusion at the 
Hotel de Ville — Erection of barricades— Violent proclamations — Melancholy 
appearance of the city— Deputations to the Hotel de Ville— Orders given by 
Delescluze— Evacuation of the Palais de Tlndustrie and Ministry of the In- 
terior—Fighting in the Faubourg St. Honore— At the Rue d'Anjou— In the 
Boulevard Haussman— Investment of Montmartre — Left bank of the Seine- 
Barricades constructed— Manifestation in favor of the Government. 



ON Sunday the 21st of May, the troops between the 
gates of St. Cloud and Auteuil were actively engaged 
at the works of approach, endeavoring to render a breach 
practicable for an assault. The fire from the ramparts 
had been gradually decreasing, and finally ceased entirely. 
The commandant, Treves, who was overseeing the work 
in the trenches at St. Cloud, determined to reconnoitre to 
discover the cause of this silence. He advanced to the 
drawbridge, the chain of which had been broken a few 
days before by a cannon-ball, when a civilian appeared at 
the bastion on the left, and raised a white flag, making vio- 
lent gesticulations, and shouting something which, owing 
to the cannonade of Montretout and Breteuil, it was difii- 
cult to understand, but which seemed to be " Come, there 
is nobody." Commandant Treves immediately jumped 
into the trench, and, followed by Sergeant Constant of the 
3d battalion, 91st regiment, ran toward the bastion, crossed 



882 THE PAEIS COMMUNE. 

the drawbridge, of whicli only a small beam remained, 
and joined his interlocutor, who said : " My name is Du- 
catel — a former officer of the infantry of the Marine, 
You can have confidence in me. Paris is yours, if you 
wish to take it. Bring in your troops immediately, as you 
see everything is abandoned." In fact, no troops were 
visible in any direction, and the bastions on the right and 
left were entirely evacuated. 

M. Ducatel was invited to leave Paris by the command- 
ant, to render an account of the situation to the General- 
in-Chief The following despatch was sent immediately 
to the Generals Douay and Verge at Villeneuve I'Etang, 
and Sevres, dated from the trench : 

"I have just entered Paris with M. Ducatel by the 
Porte St. Cloud. Everything is abandoned. I have or- 
dered the torpedo wires to be cut." 

Half an hour afterwards the firing had ceased along the 
entire line. Commandant Treves, accompanied by M. 
Ducatel and Captain Garnier, with a body of engineers, 
returned to Paris. The commanders. of the 37th and 91st 
battalions followed with their troops to secure the position 
against an offensive return of the insurgents. It was 
then half-past four in the afternoon. 

Immediately after the reception of the above despatch. 
General Douay, commanding the Fourth Army Corps, 
advanced his troops, and occupied strongly the Porte St. 
Cloud and the Eue du Eempart. He was followed by 
General Vinoy, commanding the reserve, who entered the 
same gate, and took possession of the important position 
of Trocadero. 

In the meantime, General Ladmirault (First Army 
Corps), entering by the gates of Passy and Auteuil, con- 
tinued along the ramparts, and surprised the insurgents 
at the Porte de la Muette, where he took five or six hun- 




AS SI 

Commune of Pans 

1871 



ASSI IS AEKESTED. ' 283 

dred prisoners. Advancing along the Avenue de la 
Grande Armee, he took possession of the barricades, driv- 
ing the insurgents before him, and thus became master 
of the Arc de Triomphe, where the tricolor was first dis- 
played inside the walls. 

Finally, General de Cissey, commanding the Third Army 
Corps, entered during the night by the gates of Vaugirard 
and Montrouge, and thus the whole line of ramparts, 
from Vaugirard to the Porte Dauphine, was in the power 
of the Versaillese. General de Cissey proceeded with his 
troops in the direction of the Champs de Mars, where an 
energetic resistance was expected; but the whole move- 
ment had been so sudden that time was wanted to organ- 
ize the defence. The Ecole-Militaire was taken possession 
of without opposition, the staff of the National Guard 
having quitted the building, in a precipitate if not undig- 
nified manner. 

In the meantime, an important arrest had taken place. 
Towards midnight Citizen Assi made his appearance in 
the neighborhood of the Point-du-Jour. His carriage was 
escorted by half a dozen cavaliers with red vests and caps. 

A sentinel called : 

" Who goes there ? " 

" Staff officer," replied Assi. 

"Advance in order." 

Assi leaned forward to reply, when seeing the uniform 
of the sentinel, he threw himself back in the carriage, 
exclaiming : 

"The line! We are lost!" 

His escort was already secured, and a quarter of an hour 
later. Citizen Assi was rolling along the road to Versailles. 

Notwithstanding the ringing of the tocsin, and the 
beating of the generaU in the occupied quarters, the en- 
trance of the troops was not known throughout Paris un- 
til late on Monday. During the previous evening an im- 



284 THE PARIS COMMUNE. 

mense crowd promenaded the boulevards, and filled the 
cafes until long after midnight. Delescluze himself, to 
whom the news was brought at four in the morning, re- 
fused to credit it, and even when convinced of the truth 
of the statement, issued the following proclamation : 

" The observatory of the Arc de Triomphe denies tlie 
entrance of the Versaillese; at least, nothing has been 
seen which resembles it. 

"The Commandant Eenard, of that section, has just 
left my cabinet, and he affirms that there has only been a 
panic, and that the gate of Auteuil has not been forced ; 
that if the Versaillese presented themselves, they were 
repulsed. 

" I have sent eleven battalions of reinforcements by as 
many officers of the staff, who will not leave them until 
they have conducted them to the posts they are to occupy. 

" Delescluze." 

At about four o'clock Monday morning the vast move- 
ment for the occupation of Paris really began. This great 
and difficult strategic combination, conducted with as 
much energy as ability, and with unhesitating unity of 
action, was but the continuation of the plan followed 
from the beginning of this horrible civil war. Outside, 
the insurgents, from Asnieres to Montrouge, had been 
made to recede step by step toward the ramparts — their 
principal positions had been successively taken from them. 
The fortifications once passed, the same operation was 
continued on a concentric line, almost parallel with the 
outer line of investment. 

The troops marched always in advance, enclosing the 
Communists in an immense semicircle, which gradually 
narrowed, until the insurgents were thrown back on their 
last places of refuge — on the' left bank towards the Gobe- 
lins and the Salp^triere, and on the right toward the 



INVESTMENT OF THE CITY. 285 

heights of Meuilmontant, of Charonne, and the upper 
end of the Faubourg St. Antoine. 

This attack, directed and constantly overseen by Mar- 
shal de MacMahon, whose headquarters were established 
first at Trocadero, and afterwards at the Ministry of 
Foreign Affairs, enclosed the city from the southwest to 
the northwest in advancing to the northeast and southeast. 

But while continuing the exterior movement, the opera- 
tion within the city produced new and serious obstacles 
owing to the multiplicity of the transversal streets, which 
at one time discovered the march of the army to the insur- 
gents, and at another suddenly separated the different 
corps, and by interrupting their communications, rendered 
it difficult for them to make their attacks in concert. 

The army of France numbered from 90,000 to 100,000 
men, commanded in chief under the orders of Marshal de 
MacMahon, by Generals Ladmirault, Douay, De Cissey, 
De Clinchant, Du Barail, and by General Vinoy at the 
head of the army of reserve. General de Cissey specially 
conducted the operations on the left bank, where he was 
seconded by General du Barail, who took with his cavalry 
the forts of Montrouge, Bicetre, and Ivry. 

The movements on the right bank were developed 
under the directions of Generals Ladmirault, Clinchant, 
Vinoy, and Douay, the first two acting at the begin- 
ning of the attack in the northern quarters (Batig- 
noUes and Montmartre), while the other two occupied the 
Champs Ely sees and its neighborhood. According to the 
necessities of the action, they supported each other re- 
ciprocally. 

This investment, by successiYe zones, was executed with 
so much precision, that as the army advanced from one zone 
to attack another, the one just quitted was cleansed of every 
element of insurrection. The inhabitants could circu- 
late freely without meeting a single Federal uniform, and 



286 THE PAEIS COMMUNE. 

without incurring any danger but from spent projectiles, 
which sometimes passed beyond the line of battle. During 
the seven days which the taking of Paris occupied — from 
Sunday the 31st, to Sunday the 28th — there was not a 
single offensiye return or any attack made in the rear of 
the assailants by the National Guards. Nothing more 
clearly proves the excellence of the plan. 

In the beginning of the day. Generals Ladmirault and 
Clinchant solidly established the base of their opera- 
tions by the occupation of Passy and La Muette. Gen- 
eral Ladmirault then advanced towards the Arc de Tri- 
omphe, as already described, and carrying the barricade 
in front of the monument, planted the tricolor on its 
summit. From that moment bombs, directed by the 
insurgents from Montmartre, endeavored vainly to over- 
throw the flag. 

Meanwhile the 5th corps, under General Clinchant, 
entering by the gates of Auteuil and Maillot, continued 
along the ramparts as far as the Place Pereire, taking 
possession of the Ternes and the gate of Asnieres, and 
then descended the Faubourg St. Honore. 

General Montaudon, commanding the third division of 
the 1st corps, followed this movement outside the walls, 
taking Neuilly, LcYallois, Perret, and Clichy, and carry- 
ing the gate of St. Ouen, where he took 105 cannon from 
the insurgents. 

The Arc de Triomphe being taken, the troops descended 
simultaneously to the Place de la Concorde, and towards 
the New Opera, by the Avenue Friedland and the Boule- 
vard Haussmann. 

At Neuilly, Levallois, the Ternes, and Courcelles, the 
National Guards were very much surprised to find that, 
though they had no serious combats the night before, 
many of their men were wounded by balls coming from 
the Bois de Boulogne, the gate of Neuilly and its neigh- 



NUMBERLESS BAERICADES. 287 

borliood. These balls Avere fired by sharpshooters, who 
had spread along the ramparts and taken possession of the 
gates abandoned by the Federals. 

The evacuation was immediately decided, and all the 
battalions hastened to enter Paris by the gates of Bineau, 
Asnieres, and Clichy. They were closely followed by the 
regular troops along the Boulevards JSTeuilly and Males- 
herbes, and were obliged to turn many times during the 
retreat and discharge their pieces to check the heat of the 
pursuit. 

The ardor of the Versaillese, however, was not to be 
restrained ; balls whistled in every direction, losing them- 
selves at the extremities of the great avenues in the very 
heart of Paris. Men and women ran about distractedly, 
and in a few moments the streets were deserted by all 
but the combatants. 

The regular troops advanced thus as far as the 
Park Monceau, of which they took definitive possession, 
while the retreat of the Federals became more and more 
accelerated. 

On his side, General Vinoy held the heights of Troca- 
dero, and the troops of General de Cissey extended from 
the depot of Montparnasse to Grenelle, occupying the 
Champs de Mars, the Ecole Militaire, and the Invalides. 

Meanwhile, at the Hotel de Ville, orders had been issued 
by the Committee of Public Safety, which was sitting 
there en permanence, to erect barricades in every direction, 
and the injunction was most faithfully and extensively 
executed. Along the Boulevards from the Madeleine to 
the Chateau-d'Eau barricades cropped up on every side, 
and every passer-by was forced to give his aid and 
place a stone ; indeed, as the troops advanced and the 
danger became more imminent, many unfortunate indi- 
viduals were pressed into the service, and obliged to work 
for several hours, finally to have a rifle forced into their 



288 THE PAEIS COMMUKE. 

hands, with orders to defend the barricade which they 
had only helped to erect a contre-coeur. Women and 
children worked just as actively as the National Guards 
themselves, and formidable barriers were soon to be seen 
at the Rue de la Ohausee-d'Antin, the Eue Eichelieu, the 
Rue Drouot, and the Porte St. Martin. The neighbor- 
hood of the Hotel de Ville was defended by immense con- 
structions, and the Rues St. Denis, St. Martin, and many 
of the side-streets were strongly fortified. The same was 
the case in the neighborhood of Montmartre, and on the 
left lijank of the river in the Faubourg St. Germain, Rues 
du Bac and des Saints-Peres, along the quays, and at the 
entrances of the different bridges. 

The members of the Commune withdrew to their several 
arrondissements to organize the defence and to encourage 
their men to a desperate resistance. The unexpected and 
easy entrance effected by the Versaillese had at first greatly 
demoralized the Federal troops. The old cry, " Nous 
sommes traliis ! " was raised, and numberless stories were 
told of gates which had been opened by traitors within 
the walls. 

A few hours, however, gave the Communists time to 
recover themselves, and by nightfall a complete change 
had come over the spirit of the scene. The large number 
of extempore barricades which had at first sprung up too 
quickly to be worth much, had been made strong enough 
to be really formidable, and the men in charge of them 
seemed not only pretty cool, but even in good spirits, with 
little about them of the air of beaten troops whose last 
hope has gone. 

When the members of the Commune departed for the 
various arrondissements, Delescluze, the Delegate of War, 
the Military Commission, and the Committee of Public 
Safety, remained at the Hotel de Ville. As to the Central 
Committee, no one could say what had become of the 



FRANTIC APPEALS. 289 

persons composing it, and at the final struggle they had 
entirely disappeared. Tlie Committee of Public Safety 
chiefly employed its time in issuing a yariety of proclama- 
tions. The following appeal was made to the National 
Guards : 

" Pabis, May 22, 1S71. 

" Rise up, patriotic citizens ! 

" To the barricades ! The enemy is within our walls ! 
'No hesitation ! 

" Forward, for the Eepublic, the Commune, and Liberty ! 
"To arms! 

" Ant. Arnaud, Billioray, Eudes, Gambon, 
Ranvier' — Committee of Public Safety:' 

To the assailants, the following was addressed : 

"Pakis, May 22. 

*' Soldiers of the Army of Versailles: 

" The people of Paris can neyer believe that you will 
direct your arms against them, when their breasts touch 
yours. On the contrary, your arms will shrink from such 
an act, which would be positive fratricide. 

" Like us, you are proletaires ; and like us, you have an 
interest in not allowing to the conspiring monarchists the 
right to drink your blood as they profit by the sweat of 
your brow. 

" The course which you followed on the 18th of March 
you will rej)eat once more, and the people will not have 
the affliction of fighting against men whom they regard 
as brothers, and whom they would be only too delighted 
to behold seated with themselves at the civic banquet of 
Liberty and Equality. 

" Come to us, therefore, brothers ! Come to us ! Our 
embrace is ready for you ! 

"Ant. Arnaud, Billioray, Eudes, Gambon, 
Ranvier — Committee of Public Safety." 
13 



390 THE PARIS COMMUiTE. 

To the inhabitants of Paris it issued the following : 

" Paeis, May 23. 

" The Porte de Saint Cloud, attacked from four sides at 
the same time, by the fire of Mont Valerien, the Butte- 
Mortemart, Les Moulineaux and the fort of Issy, has been 
forced by the Versailles troops, who have now si^read 
themselves over a portion of the territory of Paris. 

" That misadventure, far from depressing us, ought to 
be an energetic stimulant. The people that dethrones 
kings and destroys Bastilles — the people of '89 and '93 — 
cannot lose in a single day the benefit arising from the 
emancipation of March 18th. 

" I'd arms, then! Let Paris be covered with barricades, 
and from behind those defences let it shout to the assail- 
ants its war-cry, its defiance, and its promise of victory, 
for Paris with barricades is impregnable! Let all the 
streets be torn up, and the paving-stones be carried to the 
balconies of the houses. 

" Let the city do its duty ! The Commune and the 
Committee of Public Safety will do the same ! 

"Ant. Arnaud, BilUoray, Eudes, Gamhon, 
Ranvier — Committee of Public Safety P 

In the meantime, Cluseret, who had been acquitted at 
the sitting of the Commune and released from prison the 
previous day, was nominated commander of the forces at 
Montmartre, and the command at Belleville and La Villette 
was given to Dombrowski. 

While these preliminaries of the great struggle were 
taking place, the appearance of Paris was most melan- 
choly. Everywhere the shops were closed, the cafes and 
restaurants shut, and in many cases the persiennes drawn 
to, as though all inhabitants had departed. Later, shots 
having been fired at the National Guards from a house on 
the Boulevard Rochechouart, strict orders were given for 




JULES VALLE S 
CominurLe of Pans 

18 7 1 



P A n I S I A N A M A Z 2T S . 291 

all -window shutters to be opened, and, in many cases, the 
agents of the Commune had the doors of apartments 
forced and the shutters thrown back. Ho yehicles were 
to be seen, with the exception of ammunition and ambu- 
lance wagons, which clattered along making fearful echoes 
in the vacant streets, and sending a thrill through the ter- 
rified hearts of the inhabitants. Few persons ventured 
out, and wherever the circulation existed, the passers-by 
were forced by the National Guards to contribute to the 
construction of the barricades. It has already been stated 
that in this work the energy of the women exceeded that 
of the men. The Hotel de Ville was continually invaded 
by deputations of these citoyennes exalUes, who wished to 
take their part in the defence. 

At one time thirty women came with a demand for a 
mitrailleuse to arm the barricade in the Place du Palais- 
Eoyal. They all wore a band of crape round the left 
arm ; each one had lost a husband, a lover, a son, or a 
brother, whom she had sworn to avenge. Horses being at 
this time scarce in the service of the Commune, they har- 
nessed themselves to the enormous machine, and dragged 
it off, fastening their skirts round their waists lest they 
should prove an impediment to their march. Others fol- 
lowed, bearing the caissons filled with munitions. The last 
carried the flag. • 

Citizen Valles, a delegate of the Commune, delivered to 
them the mitrailleuse and the flag, together with an order 
written and signed by Delescluze, commissioning the 
above mentioned citoyennes to aid in the defence of Paris. 
One of them received the embrace of Citizen Yalles in 
the name of all, and they then departed, bearing with 
them the engine of destruction. 

They were immediately followed by another deputation 
of women, mistresses of the schools of primary instruc- 
tion established by the Commune in place of the religious 



292 THE PAEIS COMMUiTE. 

houses in which children were formerly educated. These 
women offered to employ the children under their charge 
in making linen bags necessary for the barricades, that 
they also might haye their glorious part in the defence of 
Paris. 

A commission was signed authorizing the citizens to 
transform their schools into workshops. The little girls, 
assimilated with the Federal soldiers, were to receive rations 
of food and wine. The young boys were ordered to aid 
in the erection of the barricades. 

Towards evening, an order was placarded giving the 
National Gruards full permission to enter private apart- 
ments, and take possession of any objects likely to aid in 
the defence. This authorization caused great alarm to 
the wealthy inhabitants, as it opened the door to every 
kind of pillage ; but the rapid advance of the Versailles 
troops rendered it, fortunately, of little avail. 

The following is one of many orders of the same pur- 
port given by Delescluze : 

" Commune of Paris : 

" The Citizen Jacquet is authorized to requisition' all 
inhabitants, and all objects necessary to him, in the con- 
struction of the barricades in the Kue du Chateau-d'Eau 
and of the Eue All^ouy. 

" Wine and whiskey alone are and remain excepted. 

" All citizens, men or women, who refuse their aid, shall 
be immediately shot. 

"The citizen chiefs commanding the barricades are 
charged to assure the security of the different quarters. 

" Domiciliary visits are to be made to suspected houses, 
and, during the perquisition, all doors and windows must 
be opened. 

" All window-shutters must be open ; all v/indows 
closed. 



PROGRESS OF THE FEDERALS. 293 

"The gratings of the cellars must be guarded with 
particular care. 

" No lights are to be allowed in any quarter attacked. 

" Suspected houses arc to be set ou fire at the first sig- 
nal. 

" Delescluze, 

" CMef of the Legion of the X Arrondissement. 

" Brunel." 

While the Commune was thus devoting all its energies 
in exciting the people to a strenuous resistance, the Ver- 
sailles troops were steadily advancing. Batteries were es- 
tablished at the Arc de Triomphe, which fired on the 
Champs Elysees, Place de la Concorde, and Tuileries Gar- 
dens. Other batteries, placed on the terrace of the Tuil- 
eries by the insurgents, replied from time to time to this 
fire. 

The Palace of Industry, becoming untenable, was aban- 
doned to the Government troops. 

While the soldiers of General Douay were thus keeping 
the insurgents at the Place de la Concorde and the Tuil- 
eries in check, a portion of the troops under General Clin- 
chant, advancing down the Paubourg St, Honore, found 
the Ministry of the Interior, Place Beauveau, and the 
Palace of the Elysee abandoned by the Federals. These 
last had retreated at five in the morning to the Mairie of 
the Arrondissement Eue d'Anjou. One man, left on 
guard at the comer of the Ptue Duras, hastened at the 
sound of the approaching chassepots to implore a civil- 
ian's dress from the inhabitants, which was accorded him 
from pity. 

The troops were received with loud acclamations and 
every manifestation of joy, by the people whom they had 
delivered from the hated rule of the Commune. The red 
flag which dishonored the Ministry was torn away by a 



294 THE PAEIS COMMUNE. 

boy, and preset ted to a lignard amidst the applause of the 
crowd. 

The fighting in .the neighborhood was beheved to be 
ended. The inhabitants were professedly anti-Commun- 
ists, but, unfortiyiately, the quarter had been occupied 
two days previously by three battalions from Belleville^ 
charged with executing the famous ordres formels, or the 
chase after refractory National Guards. 

These battalions erected three barricades, one in the 
Faubourg St. Honore, at the corner of the Eue d'Anjou, 
and two in the Eue de Suresnes ; one at the corner of 
the Eue d'Anjou, and the other at the corner of the 
Eue Boissy-d'Anglas ; behind which they were now en- 
trenched. 

The soldiers, masters of the Elysee and the Eue des 
Saussaies, immediately opened their fire. Sharp-shooters 
mounted on the roof of the Elysee, and reported to the 
spectators below the success of their shots. 

Several officers, standing at the gates of the Palace, 
borrowed arms from their men, giving them an example 
of address and self-possession — courage they did not lack. 
The attack was not at first pushed very rapidly, as the 
time for the movements in the Eue Eoyale and Place de 
la Concorde had not arrived ; but at about five o'clock in 
the afternoon two detachments of infantry entered a house 
in the Eue Aguesseau, separated from the Mairie by a 
slight partition, forced the wall, and thus gained posses- 
sion of the building, where they took numerous prisoners. 
These were all decorated with the armlet of the Geneva 
Convention, which they had probably stolen from th"B 
ambulance next door. At the same time the two barri- 
cades in the Eue d'Anjou were taken. Meanwhile, in the 
Boulevard Haussmann the troops had carried the Caserne 
Pepiniere, and advanced on the Gare St. Lazare ; while 
General Ladmirault, advancing from the Park Monceau 



MOKTMAETRE SURROUNDED. 295 

along the exterior boulevards, carried successively the de- 
fences of Batignolles, thus opening the way to the ceme- 
tery of Montmartre, already reached by the division under 
General Montaudon, who had followed the same route 
outside the walls as far as St. Ouen. The object on the 
right was to attack Montmartre by its most accessible 
side. Here the insurgents had gained their victory of 
the 18th of March. The place was now strongly fortified, 
and regarded by them as the citadel of the town. To at- 
tack it in front would have been folly. It was necessary 
to envelope it, rapidly to concentrate great masses of 
troops, and to scale the heights at the mouth of the can- 
non ; these, happily, could not do much to annoy the in- 
vaders, owing to the steepness of the hill, which pre- 
vented their being employed on assailants passing close 
to the base. 

While Montmartre was thus being surrounded pre- 
paratory to the attack on the morrow, the troops of 
General de Cissey, on the left bank of the river, were 
equally successful. 

Early on Monday morning, a body of troops was sent 
to occupy the Gare Montparnasse, which they succeeded 
in doing, after carrying several strong barricades in the 
quarter of Plaisance. Several companies penetrated into 
the dep6t by the entrance at the junction of the streets 
Armorique and Cotentin. At their approach, the National 
Guards who occupied this important post, and who were 
entirely unprepared for so sudden an attack, hurriedly 
evacuated the spot. It was immediately placed in a state 
of defence, and occupied by the troops in great numbers. 

The insurgents meanwhile hastened to construct two 
strong barricades in the Eue de Eennes, at the corners of 
the Eue du Vieux-Colombier and the Place St. Germain- 
des-Pres. These barricades were armed with cannon, to 
reply to the fire from the dep6t, and to prevent the troops 



396 THE PAEIS COMMUNE. 

from descending towards the Seine by the Eue Bonaparte. 
They were supported by barricades in the latter street, 
also by those in the Rue du Four. and Du Vieux-Colombier, 
which protected the Place St. Sulpice. On the other 
side of the depot was the formidable barricade of the 
Croix Eouge, protecting the streets of Grenelle, Seyres, 
and Cherche-Midi. 

Finally, to complete this system of defence, and entirely 
cover the Luxembourg, two barricades were erected in 
the Rue Vaugirard, near the Eue Madame and the Eue 
Bonaparte, and a third was established in the Eue Fleurus. 

All these ramparts were defended by artillery. Less 
important obstacles, accumulated in the side-streets, per- 
mitted the Federals to establish posts of observation, 
and facilitated the communications between the di£ferent 
centres of operation. At about eleven in the morning the 
soldiers, sheltered by a stone balustrade in front of the 
dep6t, opened a violent fire of musketry on the barricades 
in the Eue de Eennes; and bombs from cannon, estab- 
lished at the corner of the Place, were sent whistling 
through the air every ten minutes during the entire day 
and most of the ensuing night. 

Meanwhile, a manifestation in favor of the Government 
troops had taken place in the Eue du Bac. At three 
o'clock in the morning, the news of the entrance of the 
Versaillese having reached this quarter, seven ISTational 
Guards of the 16th battalion, among whom were M. 
Duronchoux, colonel of a legion, and two ofl&cers, advanced 
sword in hand to the corner of the streets of Grenelle and 
Du Bac, where the Federals, headed by M. Sicard, member 
of the Commune, were erecting a barricade. While M. 
Duronchoux cried "Down with the Commune !" an oflBcer 
tore down the red flag, and stamped it under foot. At 
the same time the tricolor was planted at the corner of 
the Eues du Bac and Varennes amidst shouts of " Vive la 



ATTEMPT TO CATCH BERGERET. 297 

RepiiUique ! " ISText penetrating into the Eue cle G-renelle, 
the Party of Order were fired upon by the insurgents, and 
the Colonel Duronchoux severely wounded. 

The example thus given was followed by all the National 
Guards hostile to the Commune, who, grouping around 
their comrades, preserved this quarter from the occupation 
of the insurrection. A barricade was erected for this 
purpose on the corner of the Rue Babylone, where the 
Order Party entrenched themselves until they were joined, 
at about one o'clock, by the 39th of the line. 

The soldiers were received with clapping of hands and 
shouts from all the windows of "Vive la ligiie!" Many 
Communists were taken prisoners, among others a com- 
mandant of artillery and a staff ofiicer, who v/ere taken to 
the Babylone Barrack and immediately shot. 

The troops of General Vinoy had meanwhile descended 
along the banks of the Seine, and taken possession of the 
Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 

It was known that on the 21st of May, the day of the 
entrance of the troops, the Citizen Bergeret had passed 
the night at the palace of the Presidency of the Corps 
Legislatif. M. de Lanzieres de Themines, oflBcer of the 
2d regiment of the Infantry of Marine, received an order 
to go and arrest him. 

His means of resistance were not known, but it was 
expected that he would sell his life and liberty dearly. 
The young oflBcer took with him twenty men, passed by 
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, broke the gates of the 
Hotel of the Presidency, and entered the court. It was 
deserted. They then entered the apartments. 

Bergeret had slept in the bed of the President, after 
having passed the great part of the night in an orgie, the 
remains of which were scattered round the room. Many 
arms were found, besides many papers and portraits which 
the General had not had time to destroy. As for finding 

13* 



298 THE PARIS COMMUjSTE. 

"himself," all searcli was vain. Ho had prudently de- 
camped at the approach of the marines. 

M. Hottot, chief surgeon of the ambulance of the Corps 
Legislatif, lent his aid to the ofScer and soldiers in mak- 
ing the necessary perquisition. 

Among the different papers diseoyered we will insert 
two letters from members of the Commune who have 
rendered themselves particularly conspicuous. The first 
is written by Paschal Grousset, and addressed to Bergeret 
personally. We here find the buffoon-like coating with 
which the Delegate of Foreign Affairs surrounded all his 
acts. 

" FOBEIGH " LiBESTT, EqUAI.ITT, 

Affaiks. Fkateknity. 

Delegation. '. Commune of Paris. 

" Mt Dear Bee^eret : — I beg you to give a certain 
parade in sending a mission to the Commandant-in-Chief 
of the 3d Prussian Army Corps. 

" It is necessary to know officially at what date the Ger- 
mans will evacuate the forts on the right bank, so as not 
to let them fall into the hands of the Versaillese. 

" The despatch should be delivered by a staff' ofiicer sent 

en 2JarUmentaire, and followed at least by a large guard. 

" Saint et Egalite. 

"Paschal Geoiisset, 

" Delegate of Foreign Affairs." 

The other letter is from Eaoul Kigault : 

Prefecture of Police. 

Cabinet of the Prefect. 

" Pabis, 23a March 1871. 

" Mt Dear Bergeret : — I send you Bouillon, who is 
an intelligent and energetic fellow. 

" He was Commissary of Police from September until 
the 31st of October, when he was discharged. For this 
reason I have named him Commissary to the Staff. This 



EIGHTIKG AT DISADVANTAGE. 299 

position exists, and while rendering yon other services, 
his title will permit him to execute any arrest or sum- 
mons which might be useful to you. 
" I press your hand. 

" Eaoul Eigault." 

Other letters were from Lullier, Lefran9ais, and Ber- 
geret himself. 

It has been seen that in all the fighting throughout the 
day, the National Guards were in every instance forced 
back, and to such an extent that they repeated their 
usual declaration of being betrayed and abandoned by 
their oflBcers. Nevertheless, they enjoyed extraordinary 
advantages over their opponents in the struggle, who 
were obliged to attack vv^ithout any protection, while they 
fought behind solid barricades. 

In the centre of the city shells fell without any inter- 
mission during the entire day, rendering circulation 
almost impossible, and doing a great deal of damage. 



CHAPTER X. 

Attack on the Place Clichy— The Rue Lepic— Manner of attack— Assault of the 
MouIin-de-la-Galette— Volunteers of the Seine— Capture of Montmartre— 
The barricades of the exterior boulevards taken— Boulevard Magenta— Death 
and burial of Dombrowski— Place de la Concorde— C'hapelle Expiatoire car- 
ried by the troops— Fighting in the Boulevard Malesherbes— Places de la 
Madeleine and Concorde taken — Conflagration in the Rue Royale— Persons 
smothered in the flames— Ministry of Marine— Ministry of Finances — Con- 
flagration of the Tuileries— The Louvre saved— Barricade of the Place de 
rOpera— Church of the Trinity— Chaussee d'Antin— Place VendSme taken— 
The Bourse saved— Bank of France bravely defended— Cruelty of the insur- 
gents — Combat at Montparnasse and in the Rue de Rennes — Defeat of the 
insurgents— The Croix Rouge taken— Place Saint-Sulpice— Conflagrations on 
the left bank— Montrouge— Frightful slaughter at the Church of Saint Pierre 
—Government circular— The Expiatory Chapel— Barricades erected during 
the night— Assassination of Chaudey— His funeral— Attempt made by several 
Communists to escape. 

A T early dawn on Tuesday, the troops attacking the 
-LJL 9th Arrondissement were directed against the ^ew 
Opera, the Eue de la Chausee-d'Antin, the Place de la 
Trinite, and the barricade at the Place Clichy, driving 
towards these different points the Federals who had not 
yet taken refuge there. 

The attack of the barricade of the Place Clichy was the 
first serious movement of the day. Early in the morning 
a violent combat of artillery was begun between the Pare 
Moriceaux and Montmartre, while t.he batteries placed in 
front of the barricade defended the approach by the Place 
de I'Europe, But the patriotic energy of the soldiers 
triumphed over these obstacles. Towards seven o'clock a 
part of the corps of General Clinchant, headed by the 3d 
regiment of the line, Colonel Breard, crossed with their 



FORMIDABLE BARRICADES. 301 

cannon the Place de I'Enrope, and established a barricade 
under the enemy's fire, which soon silenced the guns of 
their opponents. Soon, by a combined movement, these 
troops, with those established in the College Chaptal, 
rushed on the barricade and carried it rapidly amidst a 
perfect rain of bullets and bombs. 

The Federals then retreated towards the barricade at 
the junction of the Avenues Clichy and Saint Ouen, but 
the soldiers by a rapid detour, stopped them on the way 
and took many prisoners, while the others escaped into 
the side-streets leading towards the cemetery of Mont- 
martre. 

A little before this successful attack, another column 
had taken possession, at about nine in the morning, of 
the Mairie of Batignolles, which had been abandoned by 
M. Malon, member of the Commune. He had taken 
refuge at Montmartre, directing all the munitions to the 
same place. 

It was now that the investing march on Montmartre 
was begun which, by the promptitude and ability with 
which it was executed, saved the city from so much 
misery. 

During the attack of the Place Clichy, a column skirt- 
ing the streets Cardinet and Balagny executed a flank 
movement, taking Montmartre in the rear, while the 
troops of General Ladmirault attacked the barricade of 
the Rue Lepic and the boulevard de Clichy. 

This was one of the most formidable of all the barri- 
cades, both from its position and the manner in which it 
was constructed. It was composed of two lines at right 
angles, one crossing the Boulevard de Clichy, and the 
other the entrance to the Rue Lepic (formerly Rue de 
I'Empereur), which mounts to the Heights of Montmartre. 
Five 12-pounders defend the latter, which alone remained 
in the power of the insurgents, raking with their fire the 



303 THE PAEIS COMMUiq"E. 

Eue Blanche, the Kue Fontaine, and theRue de Bruxelles, 
which open on the Boulevard de Clichy. 

During the imperial rule large avenues had been opened 
in every part of Paris, which, in a military point of view, 
were considered favorable to the suppression of any insur- 
rection, always on the hypothesis that the troops alone 
would be possessed of artillery. Unfortunately in this 
case the insurgents possessed cannon — indeed, a great 
many cannon — together with mitrailleuses of every size 
and description. It, consequently, became very difficult 
to take barricades thus defended without an enormous 
loss of life. Long cannonades and numberless flank 
movements were the result. 

The attack was ordinarily begun by two guns firing 
alternately at the barricade from the corner of the nearest 
street. The cannon being charged, was pushed rapidly 
forward, with the mouth a little beyond the angle of the 
wall, quickly pointed and discharged, and then withdrawn 
by means of cords into its former sheltered position. 
Solid shot was generally employed, it being more efficacious 
in making a breach in a wall of paving-stones. Bombs 
and grape-shot were only used by the artillery in the 
large squares and avenues. 

When a sufficient breach was made, the soldiers ran one 
by one along the sides of the streets, stopping in the doors 
to fire, and then advancing as before. Others entered the 
houses, and fired from the windows. The insurgents 
executed the same manoeuvres, hiding in the windows 
and alleys. These skirmishes often lasted very long, but 
an assault was rarely necessary ; for the insurgents, seeing 
themselves about to be surrounded, generally abandoned 
the barricade. One hundred insurgents defended the bar- 
ricade in the Rue Lepic, while others occupied the houses 
on the corner, and fired from the windows on the troops. 
From the manner in which the Federals fought, it was 



A BAEEICADE SUKPRISED. 303 

very difficult to put many of them liors de conibat. It was 
necessary that a ball should just graze the top of the 
barricade in order to strike one of them. Their bodies 
being protected by a thick wall of stone, they were only 
to be touched on the forehead or the hands, which they 
were obhged to leaye unprotected. 

The cannonade and musketry fire lasted from nine 
o'clock till twelye, when four soldiers of the line, crawling 
across the boulevard, in spite of the bullets and the 
menacing mouths of the cannon, rose suddenly in front 
of the barricade, and fired upon the terrified insurgents, 
who, believing themselves assailed by an entire regiment, 
fled in every direction. At the same time two columns 
advanced from the Eue Blanche and the Eue de Bruxelles, 
and the tricolor was planted on the barricade. 

The red flag of the Commune, pierced with balls, had 
been transported by one of the insurgents to the barricade 
in the Place Pigalle, the attack of which was immediately 
begun. 

The r61es were now changed. The troops entrenched 
behind the barricade of the Eue Lepic opened fire on the 
insurgents, but the contest was very unequal. Although 
the Federals had been unable to carry with them but one 
of their guns, those remaining were rendered useless by 
the want of artillerymen and ammunition, the attacking 
column being entirely composed of soldiers of the line. 
The combat had lasted two hours, when a body of troops 
suddenly appeared in the Eue Houdon, opposite the barri- 
cade, and the Federals hastily retreated. 

Amongst the number of their dead, the body of a poor 
baker-boy was found, who had been forced by them to aid 
in the defence of the barricade. 

The quarter being thus entirely conquered, a search for 
arms was immediately instituted, when a woman, leading 
an officer into a cellar — where, she said, several guns were 



304 THE PAKIS COMMUNE. 

hidden — suddenly drew a revolver, and shot him through 
the head. The woman was immediately arrested, and 
the body of the oflQcer was carried to the cemetery of 
Montmartre. 

Meanwhile, after the capture of the Place Clichy, a 
second column had penetrated into the Kue des Carrieres, 
where another barricade had been raised. Here the in- 
surgents held out until the troops, masters of Saint Ouen, 
had turned the cemetery, and placed the Eue des Carrieres 
between two fires. 

A dozen National Guards remained alone on the barri- 
cade, and refused to surrender. They were taken, and 
immediately shot. 

The troops now advanced to the assault of the Moulin 
de la Galette, the highest point of the Buttes Montmartre. 
After an active engagement of twenty-five minutes, the 
72d and 51st regiments, aided by the Volunteers of the 
Seine, carried the place, and planted the tricolor on the 
heights. 

The Volunteers of the Seine, who took so active a part 
in the capture of Montmartre, belonged to the brigade of 
General Pradier, in the 1st army corps. This battalion 
consisted of 300 ofiicers who had volunteered their services 
to the Assembly at tlie outbreak of the insurrection, and 
who heroically fulfilled their engagements. Out of the 
three hundred, sixty-two were killed or wounded. 

One of these, the Commandant Durrieu, rendered him- 
self particularly remarkable for his courage. 

The 1st corps advanced toward Montmartre. The fire 
from the barricade in the Rue Marcadet troubled the march 
of the column. Twenty-five volunteers, with a company 
of soldiers, carried the position. Durrieu proposed imme- 
diately to assault the heights : 

''AUons-y!" replied the captain, simply. 



DEATH OF ABKAVE OFFICER. 305 

Before advancing, officers and men, heated by the march, 
took a glass of wine at a cafe in the avenue. 

" The cross was given me a few days ago," said Dnrrieu, 
" bat I do not wear it, because I have not received the 
embrace. I feel that if I had it on my breast, it would 
bring me good fortune," and he drew from his pocket a 
cross which a friend had given him. 

A captain, who was decorated, immediately advanced, 
fastened on the cross, and gave him the embrace. Tears 
of joy stood in the eyes of the brave Durrieu, when, sud- 
denly, his face grew clouded, and taking a pencil, he wrote 
on the shutter of the house these words : 

" In case of accident, carry Durrieu, 21 Eue de Torcy." 

The assault was commanded, and the height captured. 
A barricade in the Rue Fontenelle was also carried. Dur- 
rieu was left with seven men to guard it, while the plateau 
of Moulin-de-la-Galette was attacked and taken ; when his 
comrades returned, Durrieu was dead. He was thirty-five 
years of age. 

Meanwhile, another column, skirting the Rue du Rem- 
part, mounted the heights by the Rue Fontaine-du-But, 
on the opposite side, and took possession of the Chateau 
Rouge. 

The two columns met on the top, where they found 
the guns still loaded as they Avere abandoned by the Fed- 
erals. 

During this time all had been confusion at Montmartre. 
Early in the morning the Federals were informed by their 
General that they had been betrayed ; that ammunition 
and reinforcements had been refused them, and that the 
gates of Saint-Ouen and Clignancourt had been opened to 
the Versailles troops. 

The movement executed by the soldiers along the Rue 
du Rempart had led the insurgents to suppose that they 
had entered those gates. 



306 THE PARIS COMMUNE. 

The heights were soon almost abandoned, and the troops 
met with but a slight resistance. The different columns 
having united at Montmartre, a part descended the hill 
and attacked the Mairie of the 11th Arrondissement, 
from the windows of which, as well as from the surround- 
ing houses, the insurgents kept up a quick musketry fire, 
The combat, however, was not of long duration ; many 
of the insurgents made good their retreat, while a great 
number were taken, or surrendered themselves prisoners, 
leaving without defenders the barricades in the Rues-Ger- 
main-Pilon and Houdon. 

The latent opposition to the Commune which had 
reigned in the greater part of the Parisian population 
soon made itself manifest, even at Montmartre. As soon 
as the people discovered that the regulars had occupied 
definitively all" the important positions, they hastened to 
applaud the soldiers. The search for arms immediately 
began, and, after laying their guns and bayonets on the 
pavements, the inhabitants threw from the windows cart- 
ridge-boxes, uniforms, and every war-like accoutrement. 

At the capture of Montmartre the Government gained 
possession of 150 cannon and mitrailleuses. The batteries 
menacing Paris were removed, while others were estab- 
lished above the Chateau Rouge to command the heights 
of the Buttes Chaumont and Pere-Lachaise, where it 
was foreseen the insurgents would entrench themselves 
strongly. 

The taking of Montmartre was the principal event of 
the day, and indeed we might add, of the occupation of 
Paris. It was universally believed that the insurrection 
would here make its strongest resistance. In the eyes of 
the defenders of the Commune it possessed a certain pres- 
tige, for here the movement of the 18th of March had had 
its origin and decisive success. Montmartre, supported 
by the Buttes Chaumont and Pere-Lachaise, assured to 



MONTMARTRE CAPTURED. 307 

the defenders a position most dangerous for the rest of 
Paris, which tlie heiglits entirely dominated, particularly 
the richer quarters. From the disasters which everywhere 
marked the retreat of the Federals, it is not to be doubted 
that, had they remained in possession of the heights, the 
portion of the city lying on the right bank of the Seine 
would have been one mass of ruins. 

This bombardment was foreseen, and had excited most 
cruel apprehensions in the central quarters. If it did not 
take place, no honor is due to the conscientious scru- 
ples of the chiefs of the Commune, who have sufficiently 
proved their utter want of any feelings of humanity. 
This important success was chiefly due to the divisions, 
uncertainty and divergency of action, which were manifest 
in all the military operations of the Commune, and also 
to the sudden entry of the army into Paris, it being ex- 
pected that the troops would be kept in check a long time 
at the ramparts. 

Montmartre taken, and the quarters belov/ it occupied, 
the barricades of the exterior boulevard retained little 
power of resistance. That of the Place Blanche, attacked 
by the Eue Vintimille and the boulevard, was abandoned 
as soon as its defenders recognized the regular troops in 
the interior of Montmartre. They retreated to the Place 
Pigalle, where a desperate struggle took place, lasting 
three hours, at the end of which time the troops became 
masters of the barricade. 

When the army had thus taken Montmartre and several 
other important points of the same zone, it remained 
necessary to gain possession of Belleville, Pere-Lachaise, 
the Buttes Chaumont, and Menilmontant. To invest 
these points, which were all strongly occupied by the in- 
surgents, it was necessary first to take the Boulevard 
Magenta, and next the Place du Chateau-d'Eau, a stra- 
tegic position of first importance, commanding, as it 



308 THE PAEIS COMMUNE. 

does, the Bastille, Belleville, the Faubourg Saint Antoine, 
the Boulevard Prince-Eugene, and the Place du Trone. 

The Boulevard Magenta, about a mile and a quarter in 
length, was defended by four formidable barricades estab- 
lished across the avenue, and by about twenty others built 
in its transversal streets. 

These four barricades were situated at the entry of the 
Boulevard Ornano, at the corner of the Eue Eochechouart, 
before the church of Saint-Laurent, and the last at the 
junction of the streets Magnan, Dieu, and Chateau 
d'Eau. 

The corps of General Ladmirault, advancing along the 
Boulevard Eochechouart and the Avenue Trudaine, met 
with a stubborn resistance at the College Eollin. After 
gaining possession of this building, an attack was made 
on the barricade of the Boulevard Ornano, which was car- 
ried after a long and severe effort. The capture of this 
barricade was of great importance in enabling the army to 
make use of the artillery of the insurgents, and with it to 
attack the other defences of the Boulevard Magenta. 

The barricades Eochechouart and Saint-Laurent fell in 
their turn, and the attack was immediately directed 
against the fourth barricade, which was the- key of the 
position. Here, however, the insurgents held good until 
Friday at noon. 

It was during the attack on the Boulevard Ornano that 
Dombrowski, commander-in-chief of the army of the 
Commune, received his death-wound. 

Dombrowski did not escape the fate of all those whom 
the Commune exalted to eminent positions, who were ap- 
plauded one day, imprisoned the next. Accused of trea- 
son in abandoning Neuilly, his arrest was decided upon 
Monday evening, and immediately executed. 

Military events demanding a supreme effort on the part 
of the Commune, he was set at liberty, when he replied to 




DOMBROWSKI 

Commune of Pans . 
18 7 1 



DEATH 01" DOMBROWSKI. 309 

their suspicions by courageously confronting the enemy 
at the Boulevard Ornano. 

On Tuesday afternoon, during the attack, he arrived at 
the barricade. He was on horseback, followed by several 
aides-de-camp. He had hardly been five minutes on the 
scene of battle when a ball struck him in the abdomen, 
inflicting a mortal wound. 

Placed on a litter, he was carried by four insurgents to 
the hospital of Lariboisiere, where every effort was made 
to save him by Dr. Cusco, the surgeon-in-chief. An hour 
after, he expired amidst most horrible sufferings. His last 
words were these : " Kill me at once, I suffer too much." 

This was at about seven o'clock Tuesday evening. At 
half-past eight, the regular troops being still advancing, 
Dombrowski's chief of the staff. Commandant Brioncel, 
arrived at the hospital followed by the escort of the 
General. 

" Is the General dead?" asked Brioncel. 

" Yes, sir," replied the attendant. 

" Then give me his body." 

The corpse of Dombrowski was placed in a cab and 
delivered to his staff. 

At this moment the Director of Lariboisiere arrived. 

" Why are you taking away this body ? " he asked from 
the soldiers of the Commune. 

" It is our General ; we don't wish the Versaillese to 
have this corpse," they replied, in giving the order " To 
the Hotel de Ville." 

As the carriage started, an artilleryman threw himself 
precipitately from his horse, and approaching Dom- 
browski, kissed him on the forehead and said, " General, 
I will avenge you ! " 

He then withdrew, but, as he mounted his horse, a 
baU struck him in the forehead, killing him on the spot. 
The carriage left immediately for the Hotel de Ville. 



310 THE PARIS COMMUNE. 

In tlie court of the Hotel, Dombrowski's remains were 
taken from the carriage and carried into the building, 
where they were exposed until midnight. His portrait 
was taken in crayon by Pilotell. At midnight the body 
was transported to Pere Lachaise, under the direction of 
Brigadier Cheron, of the 254th battalion, where it remained 
unburied until Thursday morning, forgotten by the Com- 
mune in the confusion and terror of that time. On 
Thursday morning, however, one of the members, accom- 
panied by the Colonel, brother of the General, and several 
ofiicers, repaired to the cemetery. 

The body was exposed on a litter, dressed in a Polish- 
jacket, with the limbs enveloped in linen. An oaken 
coflRn had been prepared ; the blankets of two National 
Guards present were folded in the bottom of the cofiin, 
and the body placed upon them wrapped in a red flag. 

Commandant Brunereau then called in the artillery- 
men, marines, and all who were on guard in the cemetery. 
Each kissed in turn the forehead of the General, and the 
coffin was closed. 

It was then carried to an empty vault, in which it was 
placed, after the brother of Dombrowski had written a few 
words in pencil on the lid. 

Citizen Vermorel then delivered an address, in which 
he expressed himself with great rage, not against the reg- 
ular army, but against the horde of drunkards and cow- 
ards who had deserted their chief, leaving him to die alone 
on the barricade. 

While the corps of Generals Ladmirault and Clinchant 
were engaged in taking Montmartre, the Place de la Con- 
corde had been the scene of a strange struggle. The 
Versailles troops were in possession of the Palais de ITn- 
dustrie, and of the Palais Bourbon, seat of the Corps 
Legislatif, which stands on the other side of the river, fa- 
cing the Ministry of the Marine, which was held by the 



EFFECTS OF THE FIRING. 311 

insurgents. The latter were also strongly fortified in the 
Tuileries Gardens. 

A contest was conducted for hours across the four sides 
of this square, and had the insurgents retained possession 
of Montmartre, the position would have been untenable 
for the troops. As it was, they were for some time little 
able to do more than hold their own. The enthroned 
cities of France suffered severely in this artillery battle, 
Lille being entirely destroyed, and all the others receiving 
some damage. The Egyptian obelisk, though attained by 
several shells, remained uninjured, while the ruins of stone 
balustrades and beautiful fountains of bronze covered the 
ground. 

In the Boulevard Haussnmnn an attack was begun early 
in the morning on the Expiatory Chapel, held by the in- 
surgents, which lasted with more or less intensity until 
four in the afternoon, when an order was given to the 
troops to advance down the Boulevard and force the 
position. 

This was effected most gallantly, and the insurgents 
fled. 

In the Faubourg St. Honor e, the attack on the barri- 
cade of the Eue Boissy d'Anglas was commenced at an 
early hour. At five in the afternoon an advance was 
made, and the position carried. The barricade of the Eue 
Eoyale was thus taken in the rear. 

In the Boulevard Malesherbes the contest was most vio- 
lent, and lasted many hours. The troo]3S, having gained 
possession of the barricade in the Eue Ville I'Eveque, at- 
tacked from there the Eue de 1' Arcade, where the insur- 
gents were in great force, both behind the barricade and 
in the houses. The traces left by the battle were number- 
less. Trees were cut down, and houses riddled with bul- 
lets and shells, while the columns and steps of the Made- 
leine were covered with many scars. 



312 THE PAEIS COMMUNE. 

Late in the afternoon the defences of the insurgents 
were carried, and the terrace of the Tuileries snccumbed, 
at the same time leaving the Place de la Concorde and the 
Place de la Madeleine in the possession of the troops. 

The insurgents, in retreating, spread fire and desolation 
in their path. In the Eue Eoyale, the houses were forci- 
bly entered by the Communists, petroleum was flung on 
all the furniture and woodwork, and in some cases thrown 
on the upper stories by means of fire-engines, so that in a 
short, time the whole range of buildings from the Fau- 
bourg St. Honore to the church (on the left, looking to- 
ward the Madeleine), was a mass of ruins. In the Fau- 
bourg, several houses were totally destroyed, and others 
greatly injured, while on the opposite side of the Eue 
Eoyale, on the corner of the Eue St. Honore, two or three 
houses were also made a prey to the flames. 

Any attempt to extinguish the conflagration was pun- 
ished by the insurgents with instant death, and many 
persons who had taken refuge in their cellars, to escape 
the dangers of shot and shell, were smothered by the 
smoke. 

In 'No. 1 Faubourg St. Honore, seven persons thus be- 
came the victims of death, and their bodies were after- 
wards taken from beneath the ruins. This building was 
entered early in the morning by several National Guards, 
who informed the proprietor, M. Aurelly, that they were 
about to set fire to his house, but that, as he had been 
always kind to them, they would allow him to escape. He 
begged leave to inform his servants and some friends who 
had taken refuge in his cellars, but was told that if he did 
so he should be burned with them, and he was forced to 
leave the unhappy victims to their fate. 

The story of two of these, man and wife, was very sad. 
Early in the morning, their son, a lad of eighteen, being 
wounded by the bursting of a shell, was carried to an am- 



INCENDIARISM. 313 

bulance in the Faubourg St. Honore. He called so in- 
cessantly for his parents that they were finally sent for. 

They set out immediately to join him, accompanied by 
their daughter, a young girl of twenty. The bullets were 
falling like rain. The young girl was shot through the 
heart, and the agonized parents were obliged to hasten on, 
leaving the dead body of their daughter in the streets. At 
the Eue Eoyale, it seemed madness to proceed, and the 
poor people took refuge in the cellar of No. 1, until the 
firing should have somewhat abated. Here Death over- 
took his prey, while the son called wildly for the parents 
who would never answer. 

Among the victims were three young men who had 
hidden here to prevent being forced to join the forces of 
the Commune. 

The design of the insurgents had been to fire the whole 
quarter, but time was wanting; and when the troops forced 
the barricades near the church, the incendiaries were obliged 
to take flight. 

It is not to be doubted that the immense building on 
the Place de la Concorde, the Ministry of Marine, had 
also been doomed by the insurgents to destruction. The 
following order was addressed to the Commandant Brunei, 
who was lodged in the Ministry : 

In d quarter of an hour the Tuileries will be on fire. 
Remove the wounded from the Ministry and Uoio it up. 

" I like that,'' said Brunei. 

The inner court was filled with materials to aid in the 
defence of the adjoining barricades, large cases filled with 
cartridges and shells, together with eight barrels of gun- 
powder and two large carboys of petroleum. 

The barricades on the Place de la Concorde and the Eue 
de Eivoli having been defended to the last extremity, the 
Federals began their retreat and the Marine was evacuated. 
14 



314 THE PAEIS COMMUKE. 

Orders were given to one of the men to empty, as soon 
as all had gone, the vessels of petroleum near the ammu- 
nition. The man was fortunately somewhat the worse for 
drink, and while seeking for some rope or tow to commu- 
nicate the fire to the combustible material, he was accosted 
by the superintendent-in-chief of the hotel, who, partly by 
argument and partly by threats, induced him to abandon 
his undertaking. 

In the Eue St. Florentin, a cantiniere while requisition- 
ing linen, sugar, and wine from the concierge of one of 
the houses, said to him on leaving, " Take care of your- 
self, for all this quarter is to be burnt to ashes." This 
proved too true with regard to the Ministry of Finance, 
which was set on fire in the morning. All day long pieces 
of blackened paper, debris from the archives of the city, 
were wafted through the air, showering down in the 
streets, and in many cases falling far out in the country. 

The following order was found on the body of an insur- 
gent killed fighting in the Eue Oastiglione : 



MiKiSTEEE Paris, le . 18 

de la Gruerre. 

CABINET Catoinet du Ministre 
du ministre. de la Cruerre. 



Ai>^ citoyen Lucas 

Faites de suite jiamber Finances et 
venez nous retrouver. 

Timbre : 4 Prairial, an. 79. 

iministere ^ 

DE LA GUEKKE. TH. FEEEE. 



THE TUILEEIES IN" FLAMES. 315 

This was not the worst disaster. At about nine in 
the evening a strong volume of fire rose high in the 
air, revealing to the stupefied inhabitants the pavilion 
of the Tuileries in flames. The fire spread fast and 
soon embraced the entire building, while every possi- 
bility of checking the flames had been prevented by 
the Commune, they having smeared the principal parts 
of the structure with petroleum. This, added to the 
dryness of the weather, which had rendered the tim- 
ber-work dry and inflammable, caused a most terrible 
conflagration. Had a breath of air been stirring, the 
whole of the beautiful Eue de Kivoli would have been 
in flames. 

Meanwhile every efibrt had been made to save the Louvre. 
On Monday night all the guardians of the Louvre had been 
taken prisoners and kept as hostages at the mayoralty of 
Saiht-Germain-l'Auxerrois, where they were several times 
on the point of being shot. 

All day Tuesday, numerous carriages charged vdtli pow- 
der passed through the court of the Louvre on their way 
to the Tuileries. In the evening the guardians who had 
been taken prisoners were allowed to return to their homes 
exhausted with fatigue. 

In the night a terrible explosion was heard, and the 
Louvre shook to its foundations. The central portion of 
the Tuileries, where the combustible matter had been 
accumulated, had just blown up. Soon the palace was 
but an immense furnace, the flames colored here and 
there in a fantastic manner according to the mineral oils 
and ingredients which were burned. 

What souvenirs and riches lost ! 

The evening before, eleven wagons, bearing a portion 
of the collections of M. Thiers, had been brought here, 
and all were consumed. 

The flames were approaching with rapidity the Library 



316 THE PAKIS COMMUNE. 

of the Louvre, and it was time that every effort should be 
made to save it. 

M. Barbet de Jouy caused the delegates of the Artistic 
Federation then in the Louvre to be seized. Iron chains 
were placed across the gates to prevent the entrance of the 
Federals into the court, they having already stolen the 
keys. 

Unhappily the flames attacked the Library, where, not- 
withstanding the efforts of the guardians, the fire was not 
extinguished until after the arrival of the Division Verge, 
when the firemen, aided by a company of engineers, finally 
mastered the conflagration. 

Thus, with the exception of the Library, the rich collec- 
tions contained in the Louvre have been saved. The 
building itself has suffered some damage from shells, all 
of which, however, can be easily repaired. The fire in the 
Tuileries continued to smoulder for several days. 

After gaining possession of the barricade of the Eue 
Eoyale, a portion of the troops of General Douay advanced 
along the Boulevard de la Madeleine, where they took pos- 
session of the barricade in the Eue Luxembourg after four 
hours' hard fighting. The Maison Griroux was occupied 
in force, and the surrounding houses suffered severely in 
consequence. Over sixty dead were left upon the ground 
after this engagement. 

While this success was being achieved by the soldiers 
of General Douay, the troops on the Boulevards Hauss- 
mann and Malesherbes advanced to attack the strong 
barricades on the Place de I'Opera and Chaussee d'Antin, 
preparatory to an assault on the Place Vend6me. 

The first of these barricades, which commanded the 
Boulevard des Capucines, and the Eues Auber and Halevy, 
was guarded by the 117th battalion of !N"ational Guards. 
The attack was begun about noon, and conducted on both 



PROGBESS OF THE FIGHTIKG. 317 

sides with great fury, the click of the musket and the roar 
of the cannon, never ceasing for a moment. 

The barricade was defended vaUantly, and during sev- 
eral hours the troops were unable to make the assault. 
They first gained possession of all the streets opening on 
the boulevards, and at the corners of those on the north- 
ern side soldiers were posted, who aided the attack in 
the Eues Auber and Halevy, where it was chiefly con- 
ducted. 

At about five o'clock the troops penetrated into the 
New Opera, The doors were forced, and Lieutenant 
Ziegler, who commanded the first detachment of the 
attack, entered the building and summoned the in- 
surgents to surrender, under penalty of being instantly 
shot. 

He was answered by shouts of defiance ; and an ofiicer, 
who appeared to be the chief of the band, instantly drew 
his revolver and aimed it at his head. The lieutenant, how- 
ever, was too quick for him, and in the act of firing he 
fell dead upon the ground. The remaining insurgents 
were thrown into confusion, and soon surrendered their 
guns. 

Several soldiers then mounted to the roof, where one, 
half enveloped in a huge tricolor, crawled cautiously up 
the balustrade and planted the flag on an angle of the 
building. The most difficult part of his task, however, 
had yet to be accomplished. On the 15th of May, the 
day on which the first attempt was made to overthrow 
the Column Vendome, the red flag of the Commune had 
been planted above the great bronze statue of Apollo, who 
stands on the highest pinnacle of the Opera, holding his 
gilt lyre above his head. The red banner had to be re- 
moved from the lyre, by no means an easy task, the figure 
being thirty feet high, and within direct range of the in- 
surgents below. 



318 THE PARIS COMMUTE. 

Several attempts were made by the soldiers to shoot it 
down with their chassepots ; but this, though repeated 
many times, proved a failure. One man, more daring 
than the rest, began the ascent of the gigantic figure, and 
climbing from limb to limb, reached the top in safety. 
He tore down with his two hands the blood-red banner, 
while bullets whistled round him, striking every mo- 
ment the pedestal of the statue, but leaving him un- 
touched. 

The Opera House being taken, the position was fast 
becoming untenable for the insurgents, when a column 
of the line debouched along the boulevard from the Eue 
Drouot, and advanced in the direction of the Place de 
I'Opera, thus taking the barricade in the rear. 

The insurgents hastened to make good their retreat by 
the neighboring streets. Two officers of the 117th bat- 
talion, not wishing to leave their cannon and ammunition 
in the possession of the army, harnessed themselves, with 
several of their men, to the gun and the artillery caisson, 
and dragged them away, notwithstanding a perfect shower 
of bullets and shells. One of the officers carried in one 
hand the red flag, while with the other he helped to draw 
the cannon. 

Meanwliile a neighboring street, the Rue de la Chaussee 
d'Antin, had also been the scene of a long conflict. 

Early in the morning of Tuesday, the troops, who had 
become masters of the Depot St. Lazare the night before, 
advanced to the assault of the Church of the Trinity, 
feebly defended by barricades at the foot of the Rues 
Blanche and Clichy. 

Two or three hundred insurgents had established them- 
selves in the church, and were not dislodged without a 
violent effort. Cannon were brought to bear upon them, 
and after a valiant assault on the part of the soldiers, they 



HATE TOWARDS GENDARMES. 319 

were obliged to surrender. The prisoners were marched 
out in file surrounded by soldiers, and nothing could be 
more wretched than their appearance. 

At the head marched a delegate of the Commune, well 
dressed, and with a resolute air, but the remainder was a 
pell-mell of individuals with every kind of costume. 
They all seemed ready to drop with fatigue. 

A large crowd collected as they passed, manifesting the 
most profound indignation, when an incident occurred 
which shows with what regretable facility the Parisian 
population will pass from one extreme to another. 

As the prisoners advanced, two gendarmes were seen 
approaching in an opposite direction, and were received 
with loud acclamations by the crowd. One of them re- 
marked, philosophically, " Three days ago these same 
people would have helped to cut us to pieces." In fact, 
the whole body of gendarmes had been the object of the 
most violent vituperation and the greatest cruelty during 
the reign of the Commune, and woe to the unfortunate 
member who fell into his enemies' hands. He was shown 
no mercy. 

The Church of the Trinity being taken, a violent con- 
test ensued for the possession of the barricade at the end 
of the Eue de la Chausee d'Antin. Cannon were placed 
on the porch of the church, which commanded the street, 
and were fired during the entire afternoon without inter- 
mission. The insurgents replied with a cannon and mit- 
railleuses, considerably damaging the church and neigh- 
boring houses. One shell pierced the steeple j another 
penetrated through the dome into the interior ; while a 
third left its mark just below the gilt face of the clock. 
By a chance which seems almost miraculous, not one of 
the three beautiful statues which decorate the staircase 
leading down to the square, was touched. 



320 THE PAEIS COMMUTE. 

While the combatants were thus cannonading each 
other with violence, several companies of the Line, ad- 
vancing along the roofs of the houses from the Eue St. 
Lazare to the Eue de la Victoire, and from there to the 
Eue de Provence, approached the barricade, and firing 
down upon the insurgents, obliged them finally to re- 
treat. 

During the previous night an attempt had been made 
to erect a barricade at the corner of the Eues de la Vic- 
toire and Taitbout, but this was not seriously defended, 
and sooii fell into the hands of the troops. 

At six o'clock the fighting near the Chaussee d' An tin 
was entirely finished, and a crowd was soon collected in 
the streets, eagerly looking for traces of the combat. 

The soldiers were everywhere cheered with the greatest 
enthusiasm. Eefreshments and wine in abundance were 
pressed upon them, the inhabitants seeming unable suffi- 
ciently to show their great joy at their deliverance. 

After a short period of rest, following the successes in 
the Chaussee d'Antin, the troops prepared to attack the 
Place Vendome. Batteries were established on the Place 
de rOpera, which fired at regular intervals during the 
night, doing considerable damage to the houses in the Eue 
de la Paix. Towards morning, finding their fire unan- 
swered, they dashed forward, and mounting the bar- 
ricade, found the Place Vendome almost entirely aban- 
doned. 

An advance was also made toward the Bourse, by the 
Eue du 4 Septembre, in order to flank the Hotel de Ville 
on the right. Artillery was brought to bear on the barri- 
cade which guarded the end of the street opening on the 
square, and toward morning the barricade was carried by 
assault. 

The following order was found on the body of an in- 



INCENDIARY ORDERS. 321 

surgent killed a few days later. He was, happily, unable 
to carry it into effect : 



Incendiez le quartier cle la Bourse 
ne craignez pas. 










The Bank of France had also happily escaped its de- 
signed destruction. 

About a month before the entrance of the troops, the 
Bank was surrounded by National Guards, and M. Beslay, 
member of the Commune and delegate to the Bank, took 
up his residence in the apartments of M. Eouland. The 
latter, Governor of the Bank under the Assembly, had 

14* 



322 THE PARIS COMMUNE. 

quitted Paris immediately after the nomination of this 
delegate by the Commune. Later, several amicable at- 
tempts were made by the Guards, under various pretexts, 
to enter the court of the Bank with their arms, but this 
was invariably opposed by the 12th battalion, consisting 
of five hundred men, who, since the 18th of March, had 
not left the building. Each day half of this number was 
on guard, while the other reposed. 

The Federals also made several attempts to gain pos- 
session of the post at the corner of the Rues La Vrilliere 
and Eadzirvill, but they always failed before the energetic 
attitude of those by whom it was occupied. 

The defenders of the Bank Vt^ere kept always on the 
alert. They could rarely go to their homes to sleep, and 
frequently were unable to go out for their meals. The 
shutters Avere crenelated, and every man had his place 
assigned him in advance in case of combat. 

Happily they were not reduced to this extremity, which 
would have been fatal to the employees of the Bank, who 
would have been burned, not attacked. General Douay 
arrived in time to prevent this disaster. The Place Ven- 
dome, which was considered an impregnable fortress, being 
taken with but little difiiculty, the troops were able to 
cross directly from the New Opera to the Bank. 

The Federal battalions cantoned in the Eue d'Aboukir 
had received orders to set fire that day to the four corners 
of the building, and the guards within would have been 
powerless to prevent them from accomplishing their in- 
famous design. 

It is due to M. Beslay, the delegate of the Commune, 
to state that he opposed, by every means in his power, the 
exactions of the Federals ; and it is generally believed that 
he effected his escape from Paris only because he was un- 
molested by the Government. 

Meanwhile General Clinchant advanced his troops to 



SAVAGE CRUELTY. 323 

attack the barricades in the Enes Chateaudun, Notre- 
Dame-de-Lorette, and Drouot, whence the soldiers pushed 
forward to the Place Cadet by the Rue Lafayette and the 
Faubourg Montmartre. The barricade erected in the Eue 
Montmartre was carried the same night, as well as another 
built at the intersection of the Eues d'Aboukir and Petit- 
Carreau. Here the engagement was long and violent, 
and all the energy of the soldiers was required to carry 
the position. At the Place Cadet the resistance of the 
insurgents was equally desperate. 

The battle was gradually approaching the headquarters 
of the insurgents ; their despair and hatred increased as 
their hopes of success became diminished, and every day 
the contest assumed a more bloody and revengeful aspect. 

At Montmartre, on the previous day, twelve unfortu- 
nate soldiers, who had been made prisoners and conducted 
there, had their two hands cut off at the wrists, when 
they were set at liberty. 

Similar acts of cruelty were of frequent occurrence 
during the death-struggle of the Commune, which ended 
in exciting greatly the passions of the soldiers, and ren- 
dering them more cruel in their retaliation. 

To non-combatants, however, they were lamb-like in 
their demeanor, being evidently well pleased with the joy 
and enthusiasm their arrival had created. 

" On est content de nous voir, eh ? les Parisiens ? " a 
lignard would ask jocosely, too confident of what he 
would be ansAvered to await any reply. While on the 
right bank of the river the troops were everywhere suc- 
cessful, the movements of General de Cissey were marked 
by equal energy and success. 

The night between Monday and Tuesday had been rela- 
tively calm, but at eight in the morning two furious 
combats had begun at different points, which lasted 
throughout the entire day. 



324 THE PARIS COMMUKE. 

The first took place at the Dep6t Montparnasse. The 
insurgents, repulsed the previous evening, profited by the 
darJiness to arm with cannon the barricade in the Eue de 
Eennes at its intersection with the Eues Cassette and Du 
Vieux-Colombier. From this position they bombarded, 
at a distance of 860 yards, the depdt which stood opposite. 
Shot and shell rained upon the building, rendering it soon 
a mass of ruins, while the surrounding houses were hor- 
ribly maltreated. 

While the battery of the barricade was thus bombard- 
ing the depot, six battalions of Federals advanced to 
attack. The firing of musketry and the rattling of the 
mitrailleuse was then added to the already horrible din, 
and for five hours the troops within sustained this violent 
attack with energy and sang-froid. 

Two detachments of the Chasseurs d'Afrique then ad- 
vanced, one to the right and one to the left of the Eue de 
Eennes, turning the insurgents, who, assailed in front 
and on two sides, beat a retreat and rapidly disbanded. 
They were furiously pursued by the troops, and obliged to 
abandon their dead and wounded by hundreds. 

An attack had been made meanwhile on the formidable 
barricades at the Croix Eouge. This place is formed by 
the intersection of six roads — Eues du Dragon, Du Four, 
Du Vieux-Colombier, Du Cherche-Midi, De Sevres, and De 
Grenelle, and had been formed into a veritable entrenched 
camp. 

The barricade of the Eue de Grenelle being forced, the 
troops by whom they were carried divided into two 
columns — one leaning towards the left continued to 
operate in the Eue du Bac, while the other pushed 
directly forward. They were received near the Eue des 
Saints-Peres by a violent fire of musketry from the 
Croix Eouge, and turned to shelter themselves in that 
street; but hardly had they appeared^ when they were 



THE SOLDIEES WELCOMED. 325 

again assailed by a fire from the barricade Saints-Peres- 
Taranne. 

Fired upon on every side, and not wishing to fall back, 
the soldiers forced the doors of the houses on the left side 
of the street, and advanced through the interior courts 
to the foot of the barricade, which they carried at the 
point of the bayonet. The barricade in the Eue St. 
Dominique was taken at the same time. Continuing the 
same movement through the houses of the Eue du Dragon, 
the soldiers gained possession of the Croix Eouge, while 
the National Guards hastily retreated through the streets 
Gozlin and Bonaparte. 

The troops then advanced by the Eues Jacob, De I'Ab- 
baye, and Gozlin to the Place de I'Abbaye, which they 
found defended by a solidly-constructed barricade. Here 
the combat, which was commenced at half-past ten, 
threatened to last an indefinite time, when the marines 
were informed that the position might be turned by pass- 
ing through the garden of the abbey which stood on the 
Place. A small framework in the wall built above a well 
permitted an entrance into the narrow passage of the 
Petite-Boucherie. 

The 2d fusiliers of the Marine effected this perilous - 
entrance, and penetrating into one of the houses, fired 
from the windows on the insurgents, who fell back quickly 
to the barricades in the Eue de Seine. These, however, 
were but slightly defended, as the marines followed up their 
success, and the quarter was soon delivered from the 
presence of the Federals. 

As soon as the inhabitants perceived the soldiers, the 
doors were all opened, and they hastened to offer them 
bread and wine. Domiciliary visits were immediately 
made, and, among other captures, that of a Federal 
named Gilbain was effected, who the day before had 
traversed the quarter threatening to blow it up. Barrels 



336 THE PARIS COMMUNE. 

of powder had been placed in the sewers connected by 
wires, to which, at the proper time, the electric spark was 
to be communicated. After a short interrogatory, in 
which Gilbain plainly avowed his participation in the 
insurrection, he was led out and shot, together with eigh- 
teen other National Guards taken with arms in their hands. 
A few days later his wife, who had been left at liberty, was 
discovered throwing petroleum on a house in the neigh- 
borhood, and was immediately led a prisoner to Versailles. 
, The successive occupation of the barricades De Buci, 
Saint-Andre-des-Arts, and the Eue Christine, against 
which it was. necessary to employ cannon, led the troops 
as far as the Boulevard Saint Michel. The Place Saint- 
Sulpice was taken at the same time ; and here we may 
mention a curious incident. The officers of the Marine 
having installed themselves in the telegraphic bureau of 
the Mairie, sent a despatch to the Hotel de Ville, leading 
the Federals to believe that they were still in possession 
of the quarter. Having asked what they should do if the 
Versailles troops continued to advance, they received the 
following laconic answer : 

" Faites sauter la loite." 

One of the delegates of the arrondissement was instantly 
shot. 

The streets in the neighborhood of the Seine had also 
their part in the combat. Early in the morning the 
Federals had fortified themselves in the passage Sainte- 
Marie, and had occupied the neighboring houses. Towards 
noon, two regiments of the line, supported by three pieces 
of artillery, appeared before their defences. These pieces, 
placed in position, kept up during the afternoon a vigorous 
cannonade, directed against the passage Sainte-Marie, 
which, added to the fire of the infantry, rendered towards 
evening the position untenable for the insurgents. At 
the close of the 23d of May the army was mistress of all 



HEAVY SLAUGHTEK. 327 

the portion of the left bank bounded by the Seine, the 
Boulevard Saint Michel, as far as the School of Medicine, 
and back of this by the Eue Bonaparte, including the 
Place Saint-Sulpice and the Eue de Eennes, to the Dep6t 
Montparnasse. 

All the quarters in the centre of this large zone had 
suffered severe damage from heavy projectiles, but this 
did not satisfy the fury of the insurgents. While their 
accomplices on the right bank were setting fire to the 
Tuileries and the Palais-Eoyal, they, from a pure spirit 
of vengeance, lighted a conflagration in the streets of 
Lille, Verneuil, Du Bac, and on the Quai d'Orsay. 

Many private hotels, and the vast and beautiful edifices 
of the Legion of Honor, the Conseil d'Etat, and the Caisse 
des Depots et Consignations, became during the evening 
a prey to the flames. The second great scene of battle on 
the left bank was at Montrouge, before the church of St. 
Pierre, and in the Avenue d'Orleans, before the barricade 
at the corner of the Eue Brezin. A frightful struggle 
of four hours took place at each of these barricades before 
they were captured. 

At the barricade in front of the church, cannon were at 
first used to make a breach. This was followed by a rapid 
musketry fire, which lasted two hours. Finally, it was 
charged with the bayonet. 

Entrenched behind the houses, and even in the steeple 
of the church, the insurgents made frightful ravages in 
tlie ranks of the troops, who stood entirely unprotected in 
the centre of the square formed by the intersection of the 
Avenues d'Orleans and Du Maine. Their attack was 
truly heroic, and their impassibility under the balls which 
rained upon them from the steeple, the barricade, and the 
surrounding houses, was more heroic still. 

After three hours combat, the colonel of the 114th 
regiment, placing himself at the head of his men, called : 



328 THE PAEIS COMMUNE. 

'^ En avant!" Officers and soldiers threw themselves on 
the insurgents who defended the barricade, and, after a 
frightful slaughter, carried the position. 

The movement of attack was so precipitate, that the 
insurgents in the steeple began ringing the tocsin for aid ; 
hardly had the last sound been heard, when the barricade 
was carried. The insurgents who had fired on the troops 
from above, were forced to descend, and instantly shot. In 
this action the army made four hundred prisoners. The 
dead and wounded were to be counted by hundreds. 

The attack on the barricade of the Eue Brezin, carried 
.at three o'clock in the afternoon, was as bloody as that 
on the barricade of the church. In one, as in the other, 
several dramatic things occurred. 

At the barricade of the Eue Brezin, a soldier of the line, 
calling to an insurgent who was aiming at him to surren- 
der, avoided the ball, and while on the point of returning 
the fire, recognized his father. Two artillerymen and a 
marine who pointed the pieces placed in battery on the 
barricade of the church, were recognized as deserters and 
killed beside their guns. 

One of the most furious defenders of this barricade was 
a woman dressed in the uniform of a ISTational Guard. 
She was killed during the action, and in clearing away the 
bodies her sex was discovered. A hair-dresser, who had 
fired from the interior of his house upon the troops, was 
shot before his own door. 

At four o'clock the tri-colored flag floated from the 
Mairie of Montrouge, and the people received with ac- 
clamations the soldiers of France, whose presence in their 
midst filled them with joy. The 114th regiment was 
everywhere feasted by the inhabitants, who looked upon 
them as their deliverers. From this moment the insurrec- 
tion in the 14th Arrondissement was ended. 



EVEHTS OF MAY 32. 329 

The following despatch relating to the military eyents 
of the day was forwarded by M. Thiers to the Prefects of 
the several Departments : 

" Versailles, May 23, 2 p.m. 

" The course which events are taking justify our expec- 
tations. We have now 90,000 men in Paris. 

" General De Cissey has taken up his position from 
the railway-station at Montparnesse to the Ecole Mih- 
taire, and is proceeding along the left hank toward the 
Tuileries. 

" Generals Douay and Vinoy are enclosing the Tuileries, 
the Louvre, and the Place Yendome, in order subsequently 
to advance on the Hotel de Ville. 

" General Clinchant having made himself master of the 
Opera, the St. Lazare Eailway Station, and the Batignolles, 
has carried the barricades at Clichy. 

" General Ladmirault is approaching the foot of Mont- 
martre with two divisions. 

" General Montaudon, following the movement of Gene- 
ral Ladmirault, has taken N"euilly, Levallois-Perret, and 
Clichy, and is attacking St. Ouen. He has taken 105 guns 
and a quantity of prisoners. 

" The resistance of the insurgents is gradually declin- 
ing, and there is every ground for hoping that if the 
struggle is not finished to-day it will be over by to-morrow 
at the very latest, and for a long time. 

" With respect to the killed and wounded it is impossi- 
ble to fix the numbers, but they are considerable. The 
army, on the contrary, has suffered but very slight loss. 

"A. Thiees." 

Later in the afternoon a second circular was issued : 

" 3:30 P.M. 

*'The tri-colored flag waves over the Buttes Montmartre 



330 THE PAEIS COMMUNE. 

and the Northern Eailway Station. These decisive points 
were carried by the troops of Generals Ladmirault and 
Clinchant, who captured between 2,000 and 3,000 pris- 
oners. General Douay has taken the Church of the 
Trinity, and is marching upon the Mairie in the Rue 
Drouot. 

" Generals de Cissey and Vinoy are advancing towards 
the Hotel de Ville and Tuileries. 

"A. Thiees." 

Although later events did not justify M. Thiers' 
expectations with regard to the length of the struggle, 
the army had every reason to be proud of its achieve- 
ments throughout the day. Its arrival had saved, 
among many other objects of value, the Chapelle Ex- 
piatoire. 

This building, erected at the Restoration to the mem- 
ory of Louis XVI. and Marie Antoinette, had been 
doomed to destruction by a decree of the Commune. 
The fulfilment of this decree, which appeared at about 
the same time as that ordaining the destruction of the 
Column Venddme, and which was peremptory, like all 
the decrees of the Commune, was unaccountably post- 
poned. 

Immediately after the publication of this decree in the 
Journal Officiel, M. Libmann, a gentleman to whom many 
members of religious communities pursued by the Com- 
mune owed their safety, presented himself to M. Fontaine, 
Communal Director of Domains, and proposed to buy the 
sacred vessels, linen, and all the objects used in divine ser- 
vice belonging to the chapel. 

The estimable delegate of the Commune fixed, after a 
great deal of bargaining, on the price of 5,000 francs, 
which M. Libmann paid from his own pocket, and for 
which he received the following receipt : 



THE CHAPELLE EXPIATOIRE. 331 

"Pakis, Mayl8, 1871. 

" Eeceived from Citizen Libmann, 13 Eue Lavoisier, the 
sum of five thousand francs, amount of the sale, for the 
benefit of the Commune, of the following objects : 

2 boxes (church-silver). 

1 " (silver-gilt). 

1 pyx " 

1 censer, holy-water sprinkler, etc. (silver). 

All ornaments of the church, such as albs, chasubles, in 
a word, all the linen, missals, and crosses. 

For the Director of Domains. 
(Signed) Laboede. 

This was not all. The. material was saved, but there 
remained the monument. M. Libmann did not hesitate, 
but opened immediately new negotiations, to which the 
Citizen Fontaine, enticed by the five thousand francs 
already paid, lent himself with all the good grace of which 
he was capable. 

The following estimate was the result of these negotia- 
tions : 

CHAPELLE EXPIATOIRE OP LOUIS XVL 

Estimate of the Value of Materials. 

fr. c. 

Masonry 813,480 20 

Granite 39,703 00 

Marble.. 16,480 00 

Metals (copper, lead) 13,403 10 

Woodwork 2,830 00 

Iron 32,900 00 

Sculpture on tlie building 15,000 00 

Artistic sculpture (2 groups, bas-relief) 150,000 00 

Two stands for boly water 1,000 00 

Two altars 1,500 00 

Furniture of the cburch 50,000 00 

Chasublery 15,000 00 

Sacred vessels 50,000 00 

1,300,295 30 



332 THE PAEIS COMMUNE. 

This amount was more difficult to realize than the 
former. M. Libmann accepted in principle, but reclaimed 
valuation after valuation, for to gain time was everything. 
The attack on Paris came to interrupt the negotiations, 
and proved that the foresight of the courageous defender 
of the monument had been correct. 

The building is to-day intact, with the exception of a 
little damage received during the attack made against it 
by the troops. 

The night of the 23d passed with a sinister tranquillity, 
scarcely troubled by the works of defence, which were 
being actively continued, or by an occasional report of a 
distant cannon. 

The time, however, was not lost by the insurgents. 
Federal officers, passing in the Rues Saint-Jacques, Gay- 
Lussac, and the Boulevard Saint-Michel, gave orders for a 
new disposition of barricades, and, following their indica- 
tions, several squads of barricade-makers set immediately 
to work. Women were there in great numbers, calling, 
with threats and imprecations, on all the citizens, male 
and female, to aid in pulling up the paving-stones, in 
digging the ditches. 

The barricade of the Rue Royer-Collard was composed 
of three defensive works : one at its entrance into the 
Boulevard Saint-Michel ; another at its intersection with 
the Rue Gay-Lussac ; and a third in the middle of the 
Rue Royer-Collard itself 

Meanwhile, at the prison of Sainte-Pelagie, was perpe- 
trated the first of the many horrible murders which leave 
such a stain on the memory of the Commune. 

M. Gustave Chaudey, one of the editors of the Steele, 
had been arrested in the middle of April, at the instiga- 
tion of Citizen Vermesch, editor of a scurrilous paper 
called the Pere Duchesne. M. Chaudey was accused of 
having, while adjoint to the Mayor of Paris, ordered the 



EFFECTS OF RIGAULT'S HATRED. 333 

repression, by force of arms, of the riot of the 22d of 
January, which was the sequence of the 31st of October. 

After inquiry upon inquiry. Citizen Protot, grand 
judge, himself acknowledged that there was no ground 
for continuing the prosecution. 

As Chaudey was still, however, retained in confinement, 
M. Eousse, advocate, took the necessary steps to obtain 
his release. 

" Tl^To formal requisitions will be made against Gustave 
Chaudey," said Citizen Protot ; " only, what would you 
have? Kaoul Eigault is fort monU contre lui, and wishes 
absolutely to have him shot. But no. Leave him in 
prison and nothing shall be done to him." 

Having first been confined in the Mazas Prison, he was 
later removed to Sainte-Pelagie, where, on Tuesday night. 
May 23d, at eleven o'clock, his cell was brusquely entered 
by Eaoul Eigault, who said : 

" Well, you are to be shot to-day . . . now . . . instantly ! " 

After the first moment of surprise, Chaudey replied : 

" You know that I have only done my duty. You come 
to kill me without any mandate, any judgment. It is not 
an execution but an assassination." 

Eaoul Eigault, however, interrupted him with impreca- 
tions, and Chaudey was dragged outside. 

There, while awaiting a platoon of Federals, for whom 
Eigault had been obliged to send, the National Guards in 
the prison having refused to execute the odious work 
demanded of them, a few more words were exchanged be- 
tween the butcher and his victim, Chaudey remem- 
bered that he was both husband and a father. 

"Eigault," said he, "I have a wife and child; you 
know it." 

These words producing no efiect upon his enemy, 
Chaudey had nothing to do but resign himself manfully 
to his fate. He was then led out to a road near the 



334 THE PARIS COMMUNE. 

chapel, where, in a corner, by the light of a lantern fast- 
ened to the wall, and another carried by the oyerseer Ber- 
thier, the procession halted. 

Either by design or hazard, the old employees of the 
prison, who were regarded with suspicion, and themselyes 
destined to a near execution, were absent on that eyening. 
Eigault only had with him the trusty followers of the 
Commune, the jailor Clement, Brigadier Gentil, and a 
friend, Preau de Vedel, a yolunteer for the assassination ; 
also the platoon for execution. 

Vermesch, who had denounced Chaudey, and Pilotell, 
who had robbed and arrested him, were not at the rendez- 
vous. 

The Federals seeming to hesitate, Eigault drew his 
sword, and commanded them, with threats, to fire. The 
men aimed at first too high, and Chaudey was only 
wounded in the arm. Clement then fired two shots, 
when he fell, crying ''Vive la RepuUique!" 

" I will give you enough of a Eepublic ! " cried Gentil ; 
and rushing forward, he fired, breaking his jaw in frag- 
ments. Preau de Vedel then advanced and shot him 
through the head. 

Gustaye Chaudey was an advocate of talent, and pos- 
sessed of ardent democratic sentiments. He had been 
formerly proscribed, was the executor of P. J. Proudhon, 
the advocate of G. Courbet, and the defender of the 
Courrier FranQais; and had thus given sufficient pledges 
to the cause of the revolution, and of such a nature, as it 
would seem would have obliged it to spare him. " But 
the revolution," says Eivarol, " kills above all those who 
wish to serve it." 

The body of Chaudey was found shortly after the entry 
of the Versailles troops, and his funeral attended by all 
the emineut journalists and chief notables of Paris. The 
following address was delivered by M. Etienne Arago, 



ARAGO'S DEFENCE OF CHAUDEY. 335 

Mayor of Paris, after the 4tli of September, to whom M. 
Chaudey was adjoint : 

"My dear Chafdey, — After the admirable remarks 
we have just heard, I will restrict myself to addressing a 
few words to the friend. 

" In times of revolution, every one does his duty accord- 
ing to his courage and his faith. Fortune decides the 
event, often fatal to the men most worthy. Chaudey, of 
this you are the proof — you, whose tragic end honors 
your great heart. 

" When I called you to the Hotel de Ville as my adjoint, 
you did not hesitate, although the horizon was already 
dark, and you saw that the perils were growing greater ; 
but you were both patriot and republican, and no danger 
caused you to stop. 

"The task which fell to your share at the Hotel de 
Ville was principally that of humanity. Yours, the sub- 
sistence of the poor, the ambulances, and all services of 
charity and fraternal zeal. 

" Of all the heads which our discords could menace, 
yours, it would seem, should have been most protected by 
the remembrance of so many services, of so much aflFec- 
tionate devotedness. 

" And yet you have succumbed — victim of an atrocious 
vengeance — which erred in striking you. Who can be a 
better witness than I, who was present at your side from 
the very beginning of the discussion which took place 
between you and a representative of the insurrection 
about to break forth. You had certainly the right to 
reply to the shots from the Place by shots from the Hotel 
de Ville; but — I declare it on my honor — the just re- 
pression came from other than your orders. History will 
attest it, as she will also tell of your family virtues, your 
sincerity, and your constancy in friendship ; she will not 



336 THE PARIS COMMUNE. 

forget the force of examination which you brought to 
bear upon our laws, nor j^our recent studies to reform 
them according to the republican idea. 

" Shall I speak of your genius ? Before this tomb it is 
no time to praise the ingenuity, amenity, and originality 
of the French mind. 

" A higher thought impresses itself upon my heart. It 
is of a duty accomplished, of a martyrdom generously 
suffered for principle ; it is of your heroism that I ought 
to speak. 

" Defender of the law, you have perished for her ; and 
against her was struck a blow of premeditated fury in 
assassinating you ! 

" Adieu, my friend ; adieu, Chaudey." 

Chaudey's death is belieyed to have been caused at the 
instance of Delescluze, Delegate of "War. The latter had 
in his youth committed a theft on a M. Denormandie, 
which lie had been obliged to avow. He knew that the 
written proof of his fault was in the hands of M. Ohaudey ; 
and this explains the fury with which he pursued the 
man whose revelations he feared. 

While this frightful crime was being perpetrated in one 
portion of the city, in another several members of the 
Commune, wishing to save their heads, had determined 
to attempt an extreme means of escape. 

A carriage arrived at about ten o'clock in the evening 
in the neighborhood of a gas manufactory, situated on 
the Boulevard de Vincennes, and orders were given to 
inflate a balloon which was in readiness there. 

The National Guards established in the neighborhood 
were rather surprised at these preparations, but they were 
informed that the balloon was to be sent with proclama- 
tions from the Commune to the provinces. 

At two in the morning, the balloon was ready to leave. 



AH ATTEMPT AT FLIGHT. 337 

Four carriages, filled with people, arrived at the gas- 
works. 

The National Guards, who did not eyen recognize the 
persons wishing to make their escape, opposed their 
departure, menacing to make holes in the balloon with 
their bullets if the gas was not immediately discharged. 
One National G-uard even added, " You have brought us 
to the pit, and you must remain in it with us." 

Seeing that flight was impossible, the members of the 
Commune, with the four carriages, retook the road to the 
Hotel de Ville. 

Although, as has already been stated, M. Thiers, in his 
proclamation, outstripped in his desires the course of 
events, still it is certain that the day of the 23d was de- 
cisive. In a moral relation, it showed on all the points of 
attack the energetic decision of the troops, their strong 
discipline regained more firmly than before, and now un- 
changeable in all contacts with an insurrectional popula- 
tion. Advances and fraternal proclamations had as little 
influence upon them as the abuse which, for the last two 
months, the Commune of Paris had showered upon the 
army of investment — upon that army of France which, 
as Marshal de MacMahon so well said, was now pene- 
trated with a sentiment of its duty and its national 
mission. 

In a strategic point of view, the consequences were not 
less important. The army was master of all the great ar- 
teries which penetrate to the heart of the capital; the 
communications had been strongly established, and were 
perfectly secure ; and, finally, the position of Montmartre 
was in possession of the Government, the occupation of 
which delivered Paris from a most menacing danger, 
while at the same time it was able to concur, in a most 
efiQcacious manner, in the succeeding operations of the 
army. 

15 



338 THE PARIS COMMUNE. 

Also, the uncertainties which had been conceived, not 
with regard to the result of the struggle, but as to its 
length, and the dangerous turns of fortune which it 
might present, were entirely set at rest ; and seeing the 
precision and connection of the movements of the army 
of occupation, the moment of definitive success was gen- 
erally regarded as very near — a matter, at most, of one or 
two days. 



CHAPTER XI. 

Paris on the morning of tbe 24th— Incendiary orders— Proclamation to the sol- 
diers— M. Thiers' speech in the Assembly— Porte St. Denis— The Theatre of 
the Porte St. Martin set on fire— Massacre of women and children— The 
hostages transferred to La Eoquette— Massacre of the Archbishop and five 
other persons— Monseigneur Darhoy—M. Dugiierry— President Bonjean— 
Visit to the Archbishop— Progress on the right bank— Saint Eustache- The 
Palais Royal in flames— Occupation of the Faubourg Saint Germain— The 
Pantheon taken— Explosion of a powder magazine— Arrest and execution of 
Eaoul Eigault— His character — His extravagance— Cannonade from Mont- 
martre— Night of the 24th— Conflagration of the Palace of Justice— The pris- 
oners of the Conciergerie. 

ON" the morning of the 24th, the districts dehvered by 
the army on the previous day had the appearance 
usual on some grand fete. Tricolored flags floated from 
almost every house, while the streets were filled with the 
curious, anxious to see the results of the terrible struggle 
which had kept them prisoners so long. 

The Boulevards des Capucines and Malesherbes were 
particularly frequented. The latter, from the church 
Saint Augustin to the Madeleine, gave strong evidence of 
the desperation with which the struggle had been here 
conducted. The shops had particularly suffered. The 
heavy iron shutters of one had been pushed up, and pro- 
jected outward at least two feet by the force of a shell. 
The windows of most of the houses were broken. The 
pretty little newspaper Mosques that line, here and there, 
the boulevard, had been broken to fragments; while 
branches of trees strewed the ground, dipping and stain- 
ing their bright green foliage in a dark liquid, recognized 
with a shudder to be human blood. 



340 THE PAEIS COMMUNE. 

The Bouleyard des Capucines presented a similar ap- 
pearance ; but it was at the aspect of the Eue Eoyale that 
a cry of horror burst from every lip. Here the fire still 
smouldered sulkily, notwithstanding all the efforts made 
to extinguish it, and now and then some blackened wall 
would totter and fall with a dull thud to the ground. 
The fire had, in many houses, shown straiige caprices. In 
one, hanging on the inner wall, which alone remained 
standing, in the fifth story, was a woman's dress and an 
umbrella, not even scorched by the flames ; while on a 
mantlepiece, high in the air, in another house, stood a 
pretty little clock, firm on its resting-place, although the 
surrounding walls had entirely disappeared. The mirror 
above it also stood intact, covered with strips of paper 
such as the Parisians had pasted on all their shop windows, 
thinking to save their being broken by the concussion 
caused in firing. The poor little mirror remained, but 
the home was gone. 

Several houses which were not burned had their fronts 
entirely knocked away by shells, and presented very much 
the appearance of a scene in a theatre when the stage is 
divided into two compartments, a different representation 
going on in each. 

Of one house, the entresol alone remained, and that 
stood entirely open, the front wall being knocked av/ay. 
The furniture was intact; the bed, ornamented with 
green curtains, trimmed with guipure and caught back by 
bands of the same ; in the centre of the room stood a 
chair placed as though some one had just risen from it, 
while over the back a shawl was carelessly thrown. All 
this was inexpressibly sad to look upon ; but horrible as it 
was, it might have been worse. The city was everywhere 
mined and ready to be blown up by the demons of the 
Commune. But a merciful Providence spared the Prench 
this crowning disaster, which, coming after a year of such 



PETROLEUSES. 341 

utter misery and misfortune, might have proved a finish- 
ing blow. 

The burning of Paris had been long premeditated by 
the Commune as a last resource, and every preparation 
had been made to ensure its success. The incendiaries 
were regularly enrolled, and were mostly women. These 
infamous creatures had for mission, to throw petroleum 
and matches through the gratings of the cellars into the 
windows, particularly of public buildings ; and anywhere, 
in fact, where a conflagration could be lighted. 

They went mostly alone, modestly but not poorly dressed, 
gliding along the sides of the houses, and looking very 
much like housekeepers going to market. 

Those who were furnished with incendiary matches 
carried them in their hands, and without either stooping 
or stopping, threw them quickly into any openings which 
they passed. Those who carried petroleum, hid the bottle 
which contained it in the folds of their skirts, and oper- 
ated in the same manner. 

Later, when the suspicions and vigilance of the inhab- 
itants were strongly excited, the petroleum was carried in 
a milk-can and in this way they were enabled to continue 
their odious mission for some time undiscovered. 

If detected, however, they expected and received no 
mercy, and were mostly executed on the spot. On the 
morning of the 24th, thirteen of these petroleuses, the 
name given them by the population, who had been dis- 
covered in the act, were shot on the Place Yenddme, now 
occupied by the soldiers. 

In the Eue du 4 Septembre, in the short distance com- 
prised between the New Opera and the Bourse, ten petro- 
leuses were arrested, some of them children betv/een ten 
and fifteen years of age. 

To add to these horrors, many of the water-pipes had 
been cut, so that a fire, once ignited, was with difficulty 



343 THE PAEIS COMMUKE. 

extinguislied ; the inhabitants were obliged to form a 
chain, and every passer-by was requisitioned and obliged 
to work for two hours. 

At the Place de la Concorde, a regiment of the line was 
stationed ; many of them were sleeping under the shade of 
the Tuileries terrace, which had been bought the night 
before with the blood of their comrades. Their rest, how- 
ever, did not remain undisturbed, for shells fell rapidly 
on the Place, and often burst far up the Champs Elysees, 
coming from the batteries at the Hotel de Yille. 

This firing became more violent as the day advanced, 
shells being sent also from the Federal batteries at the 
Buttes Chaumont and Pere-Lachaise. 

The following order was sent by General Eudes to the 
commandant of the battery at Pere-Lachaise : 



"EEPUBLIC OF PRAIirCE, 

FEE 

"Paeis, May— ,1871 



''■ Committee^ OP Public Safety, } 



" Coinmune of Paris : 

" Fire on the Bourse, the Bank, the Posts, the Place 
des Victoires, the Place Vendome, the Garden of the 
'Tuileries, and the Babylone Barracks. We leave the 
Hotel de Ville under the command of Pindy. The Dele- 
gate of "War, the Committee of Public Safety, and the 
members of the Commune now present, will transport 
themselves to the Mairie of the 11th Arrondissement, 
where we shall establish ourselves. It is there that we 
shall organize the defence of the popular quarters. 

" We will send you the artillery and munitions of the 
Park Basfroi. 

" We shall hold to the end and quand meme. 

«E. Eudes." 



THE CEKTEAL COMMITTEE. 343 

The following incendiary order had also been given : 

" Paeis, 3 Prairial, year 79. 

" The Citizen Milliere, at the head of 150 men, with 
fusees, will burn the suspected houses and public monu- 
ments on the left bank. 

" Citizen Dereure, with 100 men, is charged with the 
1st and 2d Arrondissements. 

" Citizen Billioray, with 100 men, is charged with the 
9th, 10th, and 20th Arrondissements. 

" Citizen Vesinier, with 50 men, is specially charged 
with the boulevards from the Madeleine to the Bastille. 

"These citizens will arrange with the chiefs of the 
barricades in a manner to insure the execution of these 
orders. 

" Delescluze, Regere, Ranvier, Joliannard, 
Vesinier, Brunei, DombrowskiJ" 



A final attempt had been made to influence the soldiers 
in their favor, and the following notice was pasted on the 
walls of that part of the city still in possession of the 
Commune. It was the last ever issued by that body : 

"COMMUN"E OF PAEIS. 

" Central Committee, 3 Prairial, year 79. 

" Federation of the National Guard : 

" Soldiers of the Aemt of Veesailles : — We are 
fathers of families. 

" We are fighting to prevent our children from being, 
one day, like you, unde]" a military despotism. 

" You will be one day fathers of families. If you draw 
on the people to-day, your sons will curse you, as we curse 
the soldiers who tore the entrails of the people in June, 
1848, and in December, 1851. 



344 THE PARIS COMMUNE. 

" Two months ago, on the 18th of March, your brothers 
of the army of Paris, their hearts infu-riated against the 
cowards who had sold France, fraternized with the people ; 
imitate them. 

" Soldiers, our children and our brothers, listen well to 
this, and let your consciences decide. 

"When the watchword is infamous, disobedience is a 
duty! 

"The Centeal Committee." 

This proclamation, it is needless to say, had not the 
slightest effect on the minds of the soldiers, who were 
becoming every hour more incensed against "their 
brothers," and the atrocities they committed. 

The Bourse had been occupied early in the morning by 
the soldiers of the line. In the Place Venddme a body of 
cavalry, and a large number of troops who had taken part 
in the attack of the preceding night, were stationed, while 
from the Ministry of Justice and on the pedestal of the 
fallen column floated the tricolored flag. 

The re-erection of the Column Vendome had already 
been voted by the National Assembly during Monday's 
sitting. 

After voting unanimously the following proposition, 
" The National Assembly declares that the land and sea 
forces and the Head of the Executive Power have mer- 
ited well of their country," the following bill was jore- 
sented by M. Jules Simon : 

" Art. 1. The Column of the Place Vend6me shall be 
reconstructed. ( Loud ajjplause) 

"Art. 2. It shall be surmounted with a statue of 
France. 

"Art. 3. An inscription shall mark the date of the 
destruction and that of the re-erection. 



MORE ABOUT PETROLEUM. 345 

" Art. 4. The expiatory monument raised to the mem- 
ory of Louis XVI. shall be immediately repaired." {Loud 
ajjplause on the Right.') 

On the Place de I'Opera the damage done was consid- 
erable, although the Opera itself had escaped almost unin- 
jured, notwithstanding the numerous shells sent against 
it from Pere Lachaise. These fell very thickly during the 
afternoon, both in the Place and along the boulevards. 
Several persons were killed in front of the Theatre des 
Varietes and in the Eue de la Paix, and the crowds that 
in the morning had filled the streets gradually diminished 
and finally disappeared altogether. 

The fears of explosions and petroleum had become uni- 
versal. The inhabitants had stopped up every chink into 
which anything could be thrown ; cellar-lights, ventila- 
tors, and gratings, had all disappeared from view. Some 
were covered with sand-bags, others were built up with 
paving-stones like miniature barricades, while the major- 
ity were plastered with sand and mortar. 

Every woman walking in the streets was regarded with 
suspicion by her neighbors, and many innocent persons 
narrowly escaped becoming the victims of an angry mob 
whose fury had been roused by some jealous individual 
who had seen evidences of guilt where none existed. 

As an excuse for the mob it may be said that the very 
persons the least calculated to excite their suspicions were 
invariably the ones who committed these atrocious crimes ; 
and as discovery followed discovery their terror reached 
such a height that they distrusted all mankind. In the 
Eue Eoyale where the pompiers were energetically em- 
ployed in extinguishing the fire, it was discovered that 
several of them, instead of pumping water, were actually 
throwing petroleum into the flames, and so adding to 
their fury. The guilty firemen were immediately sur- 

15* 



64:6 THE PARIS COMMUNE. 

rounded by a body of cavalry, conducted into the Pare 
Monceaux, and there shot. 

About eleven o'clock in the morning, M. Thiers and M. 
Jules Simon entered Paris escorted by a strong body of 
cavalry. They proceeded at once to the Ministry of For- 
eign Affairs, where Marshal de MacMahon had established 
his headquarters. He gave them every information con- 
cerning the situation. The headquarters of General Vinoy 
were at the Corps Legislatif. 

After a visit of two hours, the two members of the Gov- 
ernment returned to Versailles to assist at the sitting of 
the National Assembly. Here M. Thiers was interpellated 
by M. Calmar de Lafayette, who, while expressing the 
greatest confidence in the Head of the Government, 
wished to inquire what measures he intended to take with 
regard to the Prefecture of the Seine. 

M. Thiers, Head of the Executive Power : — " I am quite 
ready to give every explanation. I went to Paris this 
morning, and saw much there, and had everything ex- 
plained to me. I return quite inconsolable, and I do not 
attempt to give you any comfort. {Agitation on all the 
lenches.) The insurrection is certainly vanquished, and 
the tri-colored flag floats from most of the public monu- 
ments of Paris. But the last acts of the insurgents are 
abominable — are, in fact, the reprisals of despair. Last 
evening we succeeded in occupying the Place de I'Opera, 
and all the neighborhood. After forty-eight hours of 
combat a night's rest was evidently required by the troops, 
and the generals were unanimous in thinking that such a 
period of repose was indispensable. The insurgents took 
advantage of the respite afforded them to set fire to the 
Tuileries, the Court of Accounts, and the Conseil d'Etat. 
It was utterly impossible to prevent them, as their en- 
trenchments were imassailable owing to a numerous artil- 



THIERS REPOKTS PROGRESS. 347 

lery, and they employed petroleum to ensure their frightful 
conflagration. {Movement.) Early this morning we took 
the Place de la Concorde, the Place Venddme, and the 
Tuileries, but that palace was only a heap of ruins. {Ex- 
plosion of horror.) Fortunately, owing to the energy of 
General Douay, and the exertions of the men under him, 
the flames were prevented from reaching the Louyre; 
such, at least, is what I gather from a hurried despatch 
just received from that brave officer, so that this addi- 
tional severe trial will, I trust, be spared us. But that is 
not all ; at the present moment the Hotel de Ville is on 
fire. ( Great agitation.) However that may be, the Com- 
munists are sm-rounded ; they are all endeavoring to with- 
draw, so that this evening the rebellion will be completely 
vanquished. Unfortunately it has remained, even after its 
military defeat, in possession of our monuments, and has 
not been satisfied with using petroleum for their destruc- 
tion, but has sent shells prepared with that same substance 
against our soldiers, fourteen of whom have been struck 
by such missiles. {Loicd marhs of reprobation.) 

" Our first duty in opposing this insurrection is to pre- 
serve our coolness of judgment and remain united, as 
otherwise we shall not be able to succeed. "We shall, 
first of all, have to terminate our victory, which result 
will be arrived at to-morrow; and next we must beware 
of consenting to anything that could at this moment 
weaken the army and the Government. (Applause.) 
After what I have already done, no one can doubt of that 
which I shall still accomplish. The criminals shall be 
punished according to law, but implacably, as is called 
for by public feeling. (Hear, hear.) As to the exercise 
of the right of indulgence or pardon, I propose that that 
privilege shall be vested in the hands of the National 
Assembly. {Movement.) Therefore, as soon as the mili- 
tary operations have terminated, justice will pursue her 



348 THE PARIS C0MMU2^E. 

rigid course. {Hear, hear.) I now enter on the question 
of the National Guard, which, according to public rumor, 
is to be re-armed. The truth is, that during the last few 
weeks we have been frequently told that the orderly por- 
tion of that body were most anxious to take up arms 
against the insurrection ', and when tlie 16th Arrondisse- 
ment (Passy) was evacuated, officers entirely devoted to 
the Assembly repaired at once to that district, and, with- 
out authorization, proceeded to arm the battalions which 
remained faithful to us. But, after my orders, that move- 
ment has been at once arrested, as arms cannot be left in 
the hands of any National Guards. {Applause.) As to 
the Prefecture of the Seine, a misstatement has been 
made in what concerns M. Ferry; the real facts being 
these : When I arrived at power the said situation was 
vacant, and I offered the post to several men, some of them 
the most respected of our time ; but they all declined it. 
It was then that M. Ferry, although he had resigned, con- 
sented still to support the burden until some one was 
named to succeed him. He is an active, determined man, 
who from that moment has taken part in the councils of 
the Government. At the present moment, when no 
authority exists in Paris, Marshal de MacMahon urges us 
to proceeed at once to the installation of an administra- 
tive authority ; but I ask you to whom am I to address 
myself. The mayors and the police are both wanting in 
the capital, and M. Ferry is not Prefect of the Seine, but 
simply a lociim tenens, who has consented to again collect 
together in that city the various threads of the adminis- 
tration so long suspended. But the first point of all is to 
disarm Paris {loud clieers), and a resolution to that effect 
will be immediately presented to you. {Repeated cheers.) 
As to the mayors, we are anxious to name them, and shall, 
in that case, make use of the right which the law confers 
upon us. Before that is done, however, the insurrection 



THE POETE ST. MAETIK. 349 

must be put down completely. At the present moment 
I have more diflBculties before me than prior to the victory, 
and I shall not now, or for some time to come, have the 
slightest repose. Do not, therefore, add to the present 
trouble, but leave us all our calm for action." {Applause 
and agitation.) 

The military operations, meanwhile, were being con- 
ducted with the usual vigor. 

The barricades in the Eues Lafayette and St. Vincent 
de Paul were successively forced by the soldiers. The 
barracks of the Faubourg Poissoni^re was the scene of a 
most desperate struggle, as was also the barricade at ths 
Porte St. Denis ; but both were finally carried. 

A battery was then established on the Boulevard Mont- 
martre, near the Eue Drouot, to bombard the barricades of 
the Porte St. Martin. 

The insurgents had begun to erect these barricades on 
Monday morning, crossing the boulevard from the Eue de 
Bondy to the Faubourg Saint Martin. They were not 
finished until Tuesday, and even then free circulation 
was allowed, as the attack was yet far distant. The bar- 
ricades were guarded by the 143d and 131st regiments of 
the Federals, who chiefly spent their time in eating and 
drinking. They obtained their supplies from the wine- 
shops in the neighborhood, kept open " au noni de la Com- 
viicne," the owners being paid by ions on that body. 

On Wednesday morning the bombardment of the barri- 
cades began, and was conducted with great fury, the 
Federals replying with their muskets and cannon through 
the entire day. 

In the eveniug the few inhabitants who were not yet 
in their cellars, saw the first faint glimmers of the fire in 
the theatre of the Porte Saint Martin, lighted by the in- 
surgents. The flames were spreading fast, when M. An- 



350 THE PARIS COMMU]SrE. 

doche, a manufacturer of fire-engines in the Eue de Bondy, 
placed all his machines at the disposal of the inhabitants, 
who rivalled each other in their endeavors to extinguish 
the conflagration. 

This was the more praiseworthy, as to the danger in- 
curred from the fire were added those of shot and shell, 
which fell almost without intermission in the Eue de 
Bondy and the Boulevard Saint Martin. 

The Federals also, by an ambush at the corner of the 
Eue Bonchardon, fired on any one who entered or left 
the building in endeavoring to save it. 

Every effort was made to prevent the fire from catching 
on the opposite side of the Eue de Bondy, but about two 
in the morning this fear was realized, and the buildings 
being of light construction, the flames made rapid pro- 



An appeal was made to all the inhabitants, who hast- 
ened — ^men, women, and children — to the pumps and 
chain. A passing band of firemen were hailed as deliv- 
erers, and entreated to aid in subduing the flames; they, 
however, replied in the most brutal and abusive manner 
to all such requests, and hastened onward to" continue a 
very different task. These were the men, disguised as 
firemen, who were employed by the Commune to pene- 
trate everywhere, and set fire to the entire city. 

Notwithstanding all efforts, the theatre of the Porte St. 
Martin was entirely destroyed, while a great portion of the 
Eue de Bondy became a prey to the flames. 

The block of houses situated between the above men- 
tioned theatre and that of the Ambigu-Comique was also 
invaded by a band of insurgents. The Eestaurant Def- 
fieux was first entered, and the cellars pillaged, when the 
invaders announced their intention of occupying every 
story, and firing from the windows on the Versailles troops. 
The inhabitants of the house, mostly women and children. 



CRUEL MASSACRE. 351 

begged them on their knees to abandon this intention. 
The commanding officer seemed softened by their appeal, 
and retired, saying that he would establish an ambulance 
in the house. 

A short time after, the same man returned, but with 
an increased force, and then began a regular pillage. 
Every article of furniture was thrown from the windows, 
under pretence that it was needed for making barricades. 
The tenants were loud in their complaints and indigna- 
tion. One young man, unable to control his feelings, 
struck an insurgent in the face. 

That act was fatal to the unfortunate people, vrho were 
pursued from room to room, and massacred by the Federals 
without mercy. Men, women, and children all shared 
the same fate. Fire was then set to the houses, and they 
were entirely consumed. Meanwhile, in another part of 
Paris a scene was enacted exceeding eyen this in horror. 

This was the murder of the hostages. 

The following order had been given by the Commune 
on the 22d of May ; and we have already seen the manner 
in which it was employed by Eaoul Erigault, with reference 
to the unfortunate Chaudey : 

"C0MMF2S"E OP PARIS. 

"Direction or GEiraEAii Secueitt, 
" Paeis, 2 Prairial, year 79. 

" The Citizen Eaoul Eigault is charged, together with 
the Citizen Kegere, with the execution of the decree of 
the Commune of Paris relative to the hostages. 

" Delescluze, Billioray^ 

These hostages, mostly priests, had been arrested at 
different periods during the reign of the Commune ; and 
their execution, threatened at first as a means of intimida- 
tion, was finally decided upon. 



353 THE PARIS COMMUNE. 

The chiefs of the Commune felt that they were in pos- 
session of a magniiQcent prey, and that the assassination 
of such eminent persons would be for them a triumph. 
The writers of the Commune who had shown the most 
fanaticism in pushing the orgies of the people were those 
who first demanded the execution of the heads of the 
Parisian clergy. Eochefort, in his Mot d'Ordre, and Ver- 
mesch, in the Pere Duchesne, both called loudly for their 
assassination. 

As the checks experienced by the battalions of the 
Commune became more frequent, these threats increased 
in yiolence ; and on Monday, the day after the entry of 
the troops into Paris, about forty of the hostages were 
conveyed from the Mazas prison to that of the Eoquette. 
Among these were Monseigneur Darboy, Archbishop of 
Paris, and M. Bonjean, President of the Court of Cassation. 
On Tuesday fifteen more were removed to the same place. 
Out of the fifty-five persons transferred from one prison 
to another during the two days, not more than ten 
belonged to the laity. All the others belonged to the 
regular or secular clergy — Jesuit Fathers, the Fathers of 
Picpus, missionaries, vicars and cures of the parishes of 
Paris, and functionaries of the archbishopric. 

The transfer from one prison to another was effected in 
the middle of the day, in an open wagon, which was 
followed by an infuriated multitude, calling "A mort!" 
"A mort!" These menaces produced little effect on 
victims who were prepared for anything. 

The fate reserved for them was only too evident from 
thQ appearance of the cells into which they were thrust, 
Neither tables nor chairs, mattresses, nor sheets, but a 
simple bed of straw, with a blanket for covering- It was 
quite sufficient, they were told, for the short stay they 
would make there. 

Forty-three of the prisoners were placed in the fourth 



THE DOOMED HOSTAGES. 353 

division of the prison — division from henceforth cele- 
brated ; for from here were taken the illustrious " victims 
of a political furnace." 

Here they passed two quiet days, allowed to take their 
recreation — two hours daily — together, and treated with 
every kindness possible by the jailers, who belonged 
mostly to the old administration. 

On "Wednesday morning, the 24th, the corridor of the 
division was suddenly invaded by a strong detachment 
of Federals ; many of them were boys hardly able to carry 
their guns and equipments. One of them held a list of 
names in his hands ; and, passing from cell to cell, called 
out six of the hostages, exactly as in the revolution of '93. 
They were the following : 

The Archbishop of Paris. 

M. Bonjean, President of the Court of Cassation. 

Abbe Duguerry, Cure of the Madeleine. 

Father Ducoudray, Superior of the College of Jesuits in 
the Eue Des Postes. 

Father Clercq, Professor in the same college. 

Abbe AUard, Chaplain to the Ambulances. 

As their names were pronounced, each of the prisoners 
was led out into the gallery, and descended by a winding- 
staircase, near the chapel, into the court which serves as a 
promenade for the prisoners. On each side as they passed 
stood the National Guards, who insulted them with every 
epithet their coarse tongues could utter. In the court 
was a platoon of execution. Monseigneur Darboy advanced 
and addressed a few words of pardon to his assassins. 
Two of these men approached, and, in presence of their 
comrades,. knelt, and implored his forgiveness. The other 
Federals immediately threw themselves upon them, kicked 
them to one side with insulting language, while they 
addressed new words of outrage to their victims. 

Their conduct and language became finally so violent 



354 THE PARIS COMMUNE. 

that tlieir commandant himself was scandalized, and 
silenced them with a horrible oath, saying, "You are 
here to shoot these men, not to insult them." 

The arms were then charged, and the prisoners placed 
against the wall. Father Allard was the first victim, 
then Monseigneur Darboy fell, and each of the others 
was shot in turn, all showing the greatest courage and 
fortitude. 

After this tragical execution, which was attended only 
by a few bandits, the bodies of the unhappy victims were 
placed, dressed as they were, in a carriage of the Com- 
pany of Lyon, which had been requisitioned for the pur- 
pose, and conveyed to the Cemetery of Pere-Lachaise. 
Here they were placed in the common trench, one beside 
the other, not even covered with earth, and here they re- 
mained until the cemetery w^s captured by the Versailles 
troops, when the bodies were ' removed to receive funeral 
honors. 

Monseigneur Darboy was fifty-eight years of age. He 
was born in a village of the Upper Marne, at Eayl-Billot, 
the 16th of January, 1813. 

George Darboy was educated at the Seminary of Lan- 
gres, where he passed most brilliant examinations. In 
1836 he was ordained priest, and sent as Vicar to Saint- 
Dizier, near Vassy. A little later he was recalled to the 
Seminary of Langres, where he was given the Professor- 
ship of Philosophy, and afterwards that of Dogmatic 
Theology. In two years' time he came to Paris, where 
the death of one of his predecessors, Monseigneur Affre — 
victim, like himself, to revolutionary fury — caused him to 
be named Almoner to the Lyceum Henri IV, and later, 
Honorary Canon of the Metropohs. 

He was called by Monseigneur Sibour to the direction 
of the Moniteur Catliolique. He then became first al- 
moner of the Lyceum and honorary Vicar General, with 



THE AECHBISHOP OF PAEIS. 355 

mission for inspecting the religious instruction of the 
lyceums of the diocese. 

In 1854, during a voyage which he made to Eome with 
the Archbishop, the Pope conferred on him the title of 
Apostolic Prothonotary. Finally, after being named Titu- 
lar Vicar-General of Paris, he became, in 1859, Bishop of 
JSTancy. 

A decree of the 10th of January, 1863, designed him 
for the archi-episcopal seat of Paris, where he was pre- 
cognized the 16th of March, and installed the 21st of 
April of the same j^ear. 

On January 8th, 1864, he became Grand Almoner of 
the Emperor, and a decree of the following October called 
him to the Senate. He was a member of the Council of 
Public Instruction, and grand-officer of the Legion of 
Honor in 1868. 

The moderate and conciliatory political role which Mon- 
seigneur Darboy endeavored to fill after his elevation to 
the archi-episcopacy, did not always succeed. The per- 
sistent refusal of the Pope to accord a cardinal's hat to 
the Archbishop of Paris was for a long time considered 
as a sign of a misunderstanding between them. Monseig- 
neur Darboy, however, protested against the existence of 
anything of the kind in a pastoral letter, written on the 
fiftieth anniversary of the priesthood of Pius IX. 

It is interesting to recall, a propos of the death of Mon- 
seigneur Darboy, what has been the fate of his predeces- 
sors who succeeded each other after the revolution of '89 
to the Archi-episcopal Palace in Paris. 

In 1793, Monseigneur de Juigue died on the scaffold. 

In 1815, Cardinal Maury was obliged to take refuge in 
Rome. 

In 1830, Monseigneur de Quelen was hunted by the 
populace, the Archi-episcopal Palace sacked, and after- 



356 THE PARIS comjm:une. 

wards entirely destroyed. The ijersecution of this prelate 
lasted several years. 

His successor, Monseigneur Afire, fell on the barricade 
of the Faubourg Saint- Antoine, June 24th, 1848. 

Monseigneur Sibour, who succeeded him, was assassin- 
ated by Verger in 1857. 

Finally, after the untroubled episcopate of Cardinal 
Morlot, Monseigneur Darboy was arrested as a hostage 
and murdered by the insurrection. 

Thus, in the same century, one single soyereign has 
died on his regal bed, and only three out of all the arch- 
bishops have died a natural death. 

Monseigneur Duguerry, cure of the Madeleine, was 
struck by two balls ; one entered the cheek under the 
right eye, the other passed through the lungs and came 
out behind the right shoulder. 

The Abbe Duguerry was born in Lyons in 1797, and 
was the son of a wood merchant. At his death he was 
seventy-four years of age. 

After having commenced his studies at the seminary 
of his native city, he went to finish them at the College 
of Villefranche, but he was not ordained priest by dispen- 
sation until 1820. 

During four years he was professor of philosophy, the- 
ology, and eloquence, and finally became preacher. 

In 1824 he preached at Lyons ; in 1825 and 1826 at 
Paris. The following year he was named almoner of the 
6th regiment of the Koyal Guard by Charles X. He fol- 
lowed his regiment to Orleans, to Eouen, and Paris, until 
1830. 

In 1828, he pronounced at Orleans a discourse in eulogy 
of Joan of Arc, which twenty-eight years later (1856) he 
was called upon to repeat. 

From 1830 to 1839 he continued exclusively his course 
of predication. In 1840 he made a voyage to Eome. On 



MONSEIGNEUR DUGUERRY. 357 

liis return, M. Duguerry became canon of Notre-Dame, 
and in 1844, archpriest. The following year he was made 
cure of Saint Eustache, and in 1849 cure of the Made- 
leine. 

In the month of June, 1861, he was called to the bish- 
opric of Marseilles, but he declined with thanks, saying — 
" Je suis a la 2fadeleine, fy r ester at, fy mourrai, et fy 
serai enterre." 

He was replaced by M. Cruice. 

In 1868 he was charged with the religious instruction 
of the Prince Imperial. 

Decorated in May, 1846, he was made oflQcer of the 
Legion of Honor in 1853, and commander 8th of May, 
1868. M. Duguerry was the author of many religious 
works. 

The following anecdote was related some two years ago 
by the Abbe Duguerry in person, and will show how the 
faith of this good man in the Parisian people was later 
rewarded. 

Speaking of the month of June, 1848, he said : 

" I shall always remember that month and that year, for 
it is only since that time that I have known the worth of 
the people of Paris, of whom so mucli eyil has been said. 

" The insurrection was thundering throughout the capi- 
tal. The Faubourg Saint- Antoine was covered with bar- 
ricades, and the Faubourg du Temple was being fortified. 
Even the centre of Paris was assuming a similar aspect, 
and everything gave evidence of the near outbreak of a 
popular storm. 

"I was alone in the sacristy with my vicars, who, in the 
fear of danger, had thought it necessary to close the doors 
of the churcli (Saint Eustache). "We were anxious. We 
waited and listened. 

" Suddenly we heard a distant sound of musketry, fol- 



358 THE PARIS COMMUNE. 

lowed by the rolling of carriages taking flight, and the 
noise made in closing the shutters of the shops around 
us. 

" This tumult was succeeded by a profound and fearful 
silence, which lasted only a few moments. In about ten 
minutes a few cries were raised, succeeded by a frightful 
clamor, which seemed entirely to surround the church. 

" We still remained seated, without uttering a sound. 

" The noise outside continued increasing, and I felt in- 
stinctively that danger menaced us. I was not mistaken. 
A stone, breaking through one of the windows, fell at our 
feet ; while the noise made by the hammering of the butts 
of muskets upon the door, echoed through the aisles of 
the church. 

"The rioters wished to enter Saint Eustache. They 
intended to force the doors. 

" A few priests could make no head against thousands 
of madmen. It was evident that we were lost. Nothing 
remained but to die worthily. 

" By a common accord, and without saying a word to 
each other, we put on our church vestments, determined 
to deliver ourselves up, and save, if possible, the violation 
of the sanctuary. 

" The assault made by the rioters was already breaking 
the doors, when I ordered that they should be opened. 

" The last bolt had hardly been withdrawn when they 
gave way with a frightful noise, and we perceived the 
streets and steps of the church black with a compact and 
armed crowd. 

" I made the sign of the cross, and advanced with my 
vicars. 

" Then was accomplished a fact which I shall never for- 
get during my life. This howling crowd, uttering cries 
of death, became suddenly silent, and I saw faces which 



PRESIDENT BONJEAN'S LETTER. 359 

a moment before had been disfigured with fury, now re- 
garding us with stupefaction. 

" We advanced several steps, and the front rank of in- 
surgents stopped. I then said : ' What do you wish with 
mc, my children ? ' 

"Not one replied. A sort of retrograde movement 
made itself manifest, and one of the deluded men who , 
stood near to me said : ' It is well. Monsieur le Cure — it 
is well ; we will defend your church.' 

" Then the crowd retired peaceably, and seemingly 
rather ashamed. Those who had entered the building 
bowed to me and went out. The church was saved." 

Unfortunately, in 1871 there were more free-thinkers 
than in 1848, and consequently they understood better 
how to go to work to kill an old man and a priest. 

It would be impossible to give at length the history of 
aU the worthy men murdered by the Commune. They 
were mostly persons of eminence, well chosen, in view of 
their exalted positions and the irreparable loss inflicted on 
the country by their deaths, to satisfy amply the lust for 
vengeance of which that body gave evidence throughout. 
The following letter, written by President Bonjean from 
the Mazas prison, is a touching example of the writer's 
self-sacrifice in the path of duty: 

"Mazas, April 30tli, 1871. 

"Ton ask me, my dear Guasco, why twice, on the 8th 
of September and 20th of March, I returned to Paris, 
when dwelling in that city presented such serious dangers. 
You are, above all, astonished that I did not profit by the 
armistice of the 28tli of January to go to Bayeux and 
embrace my wife and children, for whom you know my 
extreme tenderness, and from whom I have been separated 
so long. 



360 THE PAEIS COMMUITE. 

" If, instead of fighting bravely at Villiers, and haying 
yourself mutilated by a Prussian shell on the Plateau of 
Avron, you had come to talk sometimes with your old 
friend, you would haye known that, giyen the incontest- 
able principle that aboye all in days of danger a function- 
ary should be at his post, I could not act otherwise than I 
haye done. I answer your three questions. 

" 1st Question. — The Court of Appeal, oyer which I pre- 
side, being in yacation from September 1 to Noyember 3, 
I could haye, without doubt, yery regularly, and without 
incurring any reproach, remained in JSTormandy with my 
family, and awaited the end of a siege which nobody then 
belieyed would last more than a few weeks. But, on the 
other hand, as the result of the departure of M. Deyienne, 
it was on me, being senior of the presidents of the cham- 
ber, that the duties of first president devolyed, that is to 
say, of the highest magistrature of the country. I thought 
it therefore my duty to return to Paris when the siege 
became imminent, and I entered on the 8th, leaving in 
Normandy my wife and children in tears. 

" My sentiment was shared by all my colleagues ; when, 
a few days later, M. Cremieux, keeper of the seals, con- 
sulted us on the expediency of transporting the Court of 
Cassation to Poitiers, the twenty-four members in Paris 
did not hesitate to reply by a large majority that this 
removal was not necessary to the welfare of the service. 
It was also unanimously decided that it was ' more worthy 
for the highest judiciary body to associate itself with the 
perils of the Parisian population.' (See the Officiel of Sep- 
tember 18.) I continued, therefore, during the siege, to 
exercise the functions of first president added to those of 
president of appeals. I attempted to contribute even more 
actively in the defence of Paris, and had myself inscribed 
as a volunteer in the National Guard ; but this service was 
beyond my strength, and I was obliged to renounce it. 



MAKLY DETEEMINATI02^. 361 

" 2d Question. — Why, after the capitulation of January 
28, did I not profit by the cessation of the investment to 
rejoin, if only for a few days, my well-beloved family at 
Bayeux ? This is the reason : 

" The capitulation left unsettled a question full of peril 
— ^that of the entry of the Prussians into Paris. Had they 
persisted in traversing the city triumphantly, an attempt 
against the life of the King of Prussia was to be foreseen. 
This attempt might lead to a horrible massacre. I did 
not think it was permissible for the highest representative 
of French justice (and I was that par interim) to be 
absent from his post on the eve of such terrible events, in 
which his rank might furnish him an occasion of being 
useful, and I resisted the legitimate longing which drew 
me towards Bayeux. 

'■' 3d Question. — Why did I return on the 20th of 
March ? 

" It was only when the question of the entry of the 
Prussians into Paris had been more happily decided than 
I had at first hoped, that the duties of my charge permitted 
me to leave, and I started for Bayeux. I was obliged to 
stop at Orgeville (Eure), to endeavor to organize the culti- 
vation of our domain, which the farmer had abandoned at 
the invasion of the Germans, leaving the ground uncul- 
tivated. I did not become aware of this until February 
18th. I was at Orgeville on the 14th of March, and having 
arranged my affairs was about to continue my route to 
Bayeux, when late on Sunday the 19th I learned the 
events of the preceding day: the retreat of the Govern- 
ment to Versailles, and the establishment at the Hotel de 
Ville of a rival power; the whole with the exaggerations 
common under such circumstances. 

" It was no time for hesitation. I wrote to my dear and 
worthy wife not to expect me for several days, and very 
late on the night of the 19th I entered Paris. Monday 
16 



362 THE PAEIS COMMUIS'E. 

was consecrated to reading the papers, Avhich I had not 
seen since the 13tli, in order to form an idea of the char- 
acter, still very obscure, of the movement of the 18th of 
March. On Tuesday, the 21st, I presided as usual at the 
chambre des requetes. At half past three, as I returned to 
my house, I was arrested, conducted to the Prefecture of 
PoHce, then to the depot, and later to Mazas, without 
being able to discover the motives which caused my arrest. 
To-day even, after forty-one days of detention, thirty-seven 
of them au secret, I know no more than on the first day, 
except from the vague information that I am held as a 
hostage. 

" These, my dear Charles, in all their sijnplicity, are the 
facts which you wished to know. I iibst^in from all 
reflections which might be considered by my jailer as an 
obstacle to the departure of this letter. 

" Well, my dear child — your age and your almost filial 
devotion authorize me to give you this title — what I have 
done I would do again, no matter what may be the un- 
happy results for my beloved family. In doing one's duty 
there is an interior satisfaction that permits one to bear 
, with patience, and even with a certain suavity, the most 
bitter sufferings. It is the quotation of the Sermon on 
the Mount, of which I never before so well understood the 
sublime philosophy, 'Blessed are they which are perse- 
cuted for righteousness' sake : for theirs is the kingdom of 
heaven.' 

"It is the same thought expressed by Sydney under 
another form, when beginning to laugh, while descending 
the steps of the Tower on his way to the scaffold, he re- 
plied to his friends, astonished at his gayety in such a 
moment, 'that one must do his duty and remain gay on 
the scaffold inclusively ! ' 

" Far from discouraging you, let my example aid you 
to do your duty, no matter what may follow ; for I can 



NOBLE FA THEE, GUERRIN. 363 

aflPirm to yon, upon my honour, that, except the terrible 
anxiety I feel for the health of my noble and holy com- 
panion, never has my soul felt such calm and serenity as 
since I have lost even my name to become No. 14 of the 
6th division. But this JSTo. 14 loves you very dearly, and 
blesses you as though you were one of his own children. 

" I do not need to add, for your friend has most likely 
told you, that in announcing my arrest to my bravo 
George, I added a most energetic prohibition against his 
coming to Paris to attempt anything in my favor. 

" I told him that his post was by the side of his djdng 
mother, near the two young brothers of whom he may 
become one day the solitary protector. I added that his 
presence in Paris would cause me a veritable despair, for 
I should have to fear either that they would retain him 
here also as hostage, or that he would be obliged to serve 
in this horrible civil war ; and that either of these events 
would certainly be a mortal blow to his poor mother. 

'■' Thank God, my brave child had a heart sufficiently 
elevated to understand this language, and I am proud as 
well as grateful for the conquest which that generous 
nature has made over itself to accomplish the duty im- 
posed upon it by my paternal authority ; my heart blesses 
him with the tenderest affection. 

" BONJEAN." 

Such were the men murdered by the Communists. 
Among the hostages remaining in prison was Father 
Guerrin, of the Foreign Missions, who occupied the cell 
iSTo. 22. This cell communicated with ]N"o. 21, where one 
of the hostages belonging to the laity was confined — a 
married man and father of a family. 

After having given every consolation and encourage- 
ment to his companion which could be prompted by the 
most loving charity, Father Guerrin, on the night of the 



364 THE PAEIS COMMUJSTE. 

assassination of the Archbisliop and the five other vic- 
tims, remarked to his neighbor that the call of the con- 
demned had been made, and would probably be made 
again, without any attempt to prove their identity; that 
consequently a substitution of persons was an easy thing, 
and that if they proceeded by squads, the last survivors 
would have some chance of being rescued in time by the 
deliverers whom it was still permitted to expect. 

At the moment of his arrest. Father Guerrin had 
chanced to be dressed in civilian's clothes ; since his en- 
trance into prison he had allowed his beard and mustaches 
to grow, and there was nothing in his exterior to indicate 
a member of the clergy. Under these circumstances, 
" lieureusement reunies," as he said with touching simpli- 
city. Father Guerrin offered his neighbor to reply for 
him and take his place, if, at the next call, the name of 
this father of a family should be called before his own. 
" You are married,'* he said ; " you have a wife, a child, 
for whom you ought to save yourself, if possible. Those 
are ties which it would be too painful to break, and our 
sacrifice is much less diflicult than yours. For me, a 
priest, a missionary, the martyrdom which I sought in 
China without finding it, eh lien ! I shall find 'it here. It 
little matters whether it is to-day instead of to-morrow ; 
above all, if I can render my death useful, and make it 
contribute in saving your life." 

This heroic act of abnegation could not have been pro- 
posed more simply or more as a matter of course, and it 
was only after a -^dolent debate, and an absolute and 
reiterated refusal to profit by any substitution, that the 
companion of the holy father could induce him to abandon 
his design. What commentaries can be made on such an 
act ! "While no country is cursed with such a large body 
of atheists and free-thinkers as France, in no other is to 
be found a clergy excelling the French in their loving 



EFFORTS TO SAVE THE HOSTAGES. 365 

charity and perfect performance of duty towards God and 
mankind. 

Happily the army arrived in time to prevent either 
No. 21 or No. 22 from answering to the fatal call upon 
which Father Guerrin had insisted with such generous 
self-sacrifice. 

During the incarceration of the hostages, every effort 
was made by their friends to alleviate their sufferings. 
The following account is given by M. Eousse, staff-man 
of the order of advocates, and the same who attempted to 
obtain the liberation of Chaudey, of tlie steps taken by 
him in favor of the imprisoned priests : 

" I directed myself, at hazard, towards the dependencies 
of the Court of Assizes by the entrance of the advocates, 
while a guard on duty allowed me to pass without opposi- 
tion. Not an usher, not a servant, not a sound ; an aban- 
doned house. I opened discreetly two doors ; no one. In 
passing before the chamber of council I mechanically 
turned the handle and pushed open the door. To my 
great surprise I found myself in the presence of seven or 
eight individuals sitting, without any order, round the 
room, and discussing. One alone was standing before the 
table ; he was a small man, about thirty years of age, dark, 
wearing a full beard, with a very energetic air. His 
button-hole was ornamented with a large red ribbon, 
fringed with gold. I was about to withdraw when this 
individual raised his head and called to me in a most 
brutal tone : 

" ' What do you want ? ' 

" At this unusual reception, instead of leaving, I closed 
the door, and made a step in advance, saying — 

"'I was told that I should find here the Procurator 
of the Commune.' 

" ' Ah ! and so on vient comme Qa vous causer f ' 



3GG THE PAEIS COMMUKE. 

"'^Oli! permit me,' I replied, coolly. 'If I entered 
here it was because I found neither servant nor usher. I 
am perfectly well acquainted with the usages of the Palace. 
I am an advocate and staffmau of the order.' 

"This reply instantly changed the situation. 

"'What do you wish, citizen?' 

" ' To speak to the Procurator of the Commune.' 

" ' He is before you.' 

"And excusing himself to his colleagues, the fierce Pro- 
curator made me pass before him, and enter his cabinet. 
He then seated himself, and said — 

" ' I beg your pardon, citizen, for having received you in 
this manner, but every day I am disturbed for the most 
absolutely useless objects. Would you believe it, there are 
people who come here to ask for passports ? ' 

" I told him the object of my visit. He made not the 
slightest objection, and immediately began to write the 
permit I requested. While he wrote, I asked — 

" ' Do you think that these affairs will soon be brought 
before a jury? I have been told that the trials would 
take place on Monday.' 

" ' Oh, no ! I will bring them on later. I do not wish 
them to be judged at present. Since we are alone, I will 
tell you that we have commenced negotiations with the 
Yersaillese for an exchange of prisoners, and I hope that 
we shall succeed.' 

"'But,' said I, 'this negotiation was attempted some 
time ago, and failed.' 

" ' Yes, because it was badly conducted ; but wc are now 
upon another ground.' 

" ' So much the better ; it would be the solution most to 
be desired.' 

" Profiting by the familiarity with which this high 
functionary seemed inclined to treat me, I added — 

" ' How many priests have you arrested ? ' 



RIGAULT AND THE PEIESTS. 367 

*•' ' I don't know, but not enough,' lie replied, in shaking 
his head. 'I wanted to arrest a great many more, hut I 
was prevented/ 

^•' ' Ah ! then we will talk no more of that, for we should 
not agree.' 

" * Oh, I know that yery well,' he answered, with a smile 
of benevolent pity. 

" ' But,' I said, ' there is something that frightens me 
more than your jury; it is the perspective of a popular 
movement against the priests, and a massacre such as 
took place in '92.' 

" ' Oh, don't be afraid of that, we qxq perfectly the masters; 
and at any rate you are acquainted with Mazas. People 
cannot enter there as they choose. The prisoners are in 
safety there ; and it is for that reason that I did not have 
them transferred to Pelagic. Pelagic is an open house, 
and would be less secure/ 

" While we were talking, I was endeavoring to find a 
means of making him add to the permission for seeing 
the Archbishop and Abbe Duguerry, another for the Pere 
Canbert, a Jesuit, admission to whom I had demanded 
uselessly for the last fifteen days at the Prefecture of 
Police. 

" 'All ! I forgot ; I have here another letter from a pri- 
soner who wishes to see me. I will be much obliged if 
you will add his name to the other tvv^o — M. Canbert." 

" ' Is it another priest ? ' 

«'Yes.' 

" The worthy citizen hesitated a moment, but added the 
name, and hauded me the official paper almost as graci- 
ously as a functionary of the reaction could have done. 

" ' Then,' said I, as we left the cabinet, ' I can count 
that these afiairs will not come on for several days ? ' 

" * No, I am not in any hurry . . . unless the prisoners 
demand a judgment.' 



368 THE PAEIS COMMUl^E. 

" ' But/ I added, in leaving him, ' are you not afraid of 
having your hand forced by an interpellation from your 
colleague, Urbain, of the Commune ? ' 

" Citizen Rigault smiled with the air of a man sure of his 
superiority. 

" ' Urbain,' he answered me with a gesture of disdain ; 
' I am not at all afraid of his interpellations ; I fear no in- 
terpdlation. The affair shall only come on when you give 
me the sign.' 

"After this information, little academical, but entirely 
Parisian, I took leave of my redoubtable interlocutor, and 
I thanked him, promising not ' to give him a sign ' so 
very soon. 

"In leaving the palace, I entered my carriage and was 
conducted immediately to Mazas. I asked to see the 
Archbishop in his cell, and not in the parlor of the advo- 
cates. My request was accorded "with a good grace. 

" ' He is quite ill,' the chief guardian told me. 

" On entering the cell of the poor Archbishop, I was 
struck, in fact, by his air of suffering and depression. 
Thanks to the doctor of the establishment, the regulation 
hammock of the prisoners had been replaced by a bed. 
On this he "was lying dressed, his beard and mustaches 
long, and on his head a small black skull-cap. He was 
dressed in a rather "worn cassock, from beneath which fell 
the ends of a violet sash. His features were much 
changed, and his face very pale. The noise I made in 
entering caused him to turn his head. Without knowing 
me, he imagined who I was, and extended his hand with 
a sad and sweet smile, "which "was at the same time of pene- 
trating finesse. 

" ' You are ill, monseignenr, and I disturb you. Had I 
not better come some other day ? ' 

" ' Oh, no ; I thank you so much for coming. I am ill, 
quite ill. I have suffered for some time from an affection of 



THE ARCHBISHOP'S CONDITION". 369 

the heart, 'vvhich is aggravated by want of air and diet of 
the prison. I wish in the first place that you could put off 
my affair, since they wisli to judge me. I am utterly 
unable to go before their tribunal. If they wish to shoot 
me, let them shoot me here. I am not a hero, but it is 
as well to die that way as another.' 

" I hastened to interrupt him. 

" ' Monseigneur,' I said, ' we have not reached that 
point yet ; ' and I related, insisting on all the points that 
could reassure him, the conversation which I had just 
had with Eigault. By talking thus, Monseigneur Darboy 
became animated and almost gay. He developed in a few 
words the ideas which he judged most useful for his 
defence. 

" ' I do not know,' he said, ' what causes their animosity 
against me. I have incurred, on account of my ideas on 
certain subjects, the disfavor of the Court of Eome. 
When, in 1863, I was called to the Archbishopric of Paris, 
I explained to the Emperor my views regarding the sepa- 
ration of Church and State. I begged him to occupy him- 
self with the clergy as little as possible, and since, I have 
always avoided speaking in my public acts of the Emperor 
and his government. After my arrest I was subjected to 
the most ridiculous interrogatories. This Eigault or 
Ferre told me that I had taken possession of the people's 
property.' 

" ' What property ? ' I asked. 

" ' Parbleu, the churches, the vases, the ornaments.' 

"'But,' I replied, 'you don't know of what you are talk- 
ing. The vases, the ornaments, everything which serve in 
the religious worship, belong to persons called fahriques, 
who have the right to possess them ; and if you had taken 
them, you would expose yourself to penalties written in 
the laws.' 

" The Archbishop then spoke to me of the visits he had 
16* 



370 THE PAEIS COMMUNE. 

received from Mr. "Wasliburne, Minister of the United 
States, and of the negotiations which had been made for 
the exchange of prisoners between the Government and 
the Commune. I then recalled to him the allusion made 
by Eaoul Eigault to new negotiations. He told me that 
he knew about them, and that Mr. Wasliburne had been 
conducting them with great zeal. 

"He then returned to the subject of his defence, of the 
necessity for delay, and of the composition of the jury. 
He spoke with great sweetness, with perfect freedom of 
mind, and sometimes with an irony without bitterness. 
He told me that for some time they had allowed him to 
walk in the yard, in company with either the Abbe Du- 
guerry or President Bonjean. 

" ' The President,' he added, ' proposed to defend me, 
but I told him that he would have quite enough to do in 
defending himself.' 

"The Archbishop then spoke of his sister, Vfho had 
been arrested with him and afterwards released. I asked 
him if I could render him any service ; if he had any letters 
to be transmitted ; if he had need of anything. 

" ' Nothing,' he said ; ' I have need of nothing, unless it 
is to be left here ; let them come here to shoot me if they 
wish, but I could not go to the trial ; the doctor must 
have told them so.' 

" After half an hour's conversation, I offered him my 
hand, and pressed his with emotion. More than once I 
had felt the tears coming. He bade me good-by with 
effusion, thanking me warmly for my charity. My visit, 
the assurance I gave him that the judgment would not 
take place immediately, the promise that I made to come 
and see him often, had evidently raised his spirits. When 
I rose, he threw off the rough woolen blanket that half 
covered him, and, holding my hand in his, conducted me 
to the door. 



ABBE DUGUERRY IK PRISOK. 371 

" ' You will come again soon, will you not ? ' 

" ' Tuesday, monseigneur.' 

" And I went out. His cell was l^o. C2. 

" A few doors further on was the cell of M. Duguerry. 
When I entered he was seated between the bed and the 
table on the only chair the room possessed. On the table 
were several books, newspapers, and a small copper cruci- 
fix, like those worn by the nuns. Without rising, the 
poor cure held out his arms and gave me a long embrace. 
He then forced me to take his chair. 

" ' Ah ! I have plenty of time to be there,' he said, and 
he seated himself near me on the foot of the bed. I did 
not find him much changed, only thinner. His white 
beard and mustaches displayed themselves against his 
florid complexion and large features, which were framed 
by the remains of a plentiful head of hair. The good 
cure immediately began to repeat to me the burlesque 
remarks made to him by Rigault and his secretary Da- 
costa. 

" ' What is this trade of yours ? ' 

" ' It is not a trade, it is a vocation, a moral ministry, 
which we undertake for the amelioration of souls.' 

" ' Ah, that is all Magues. We want to know what 
stories you tell the people.' 

" ' We teach them the religion of our Lord Jesus Christ.' 

'•' ' There are no more Lords ; we don't know any Lords.' 

" The director of the prison said to the good Abbe in a 
moment of confidence: 'I, too, have religious ideas. I 
wished to be a Moravian brother; afterwards I had an 
idea of belonging to the Brotherhood of Ohartreux; but I 
think I had sooner become a Mormon.' 

" The Abbe Duguerry added that he had need of no- 
thing ; that his domestic had everything passed to him for 
which he asked. I saw, in fact, on the table several 
oranges, chocolate, and some bottles. 



372 THE PAEIS COMMUIirE. 

"'We receive the papers/ he said. 'Ah! I wish you 
would bring me the Grandeur et la Decadence des Romains, 
by Montesquieu.' 

" ' Willingly, Monsieur le Cure ; I will bring it Tuesday 
when I return to see you.' 

" ' You can return ? ' 

" 'Assuredly; as often as I wish. My permission is not 
limited.' 

" ' Ah ! I am very happy to hear it, very happy. How I 
thank you ! ' and tears stood in his eyes. 

" I had risen. In taking the few steps that separated us 
from the door, he held my hand. Arrived at the end, he 
said : 

^'^ Allans, dear friend, take my regards to your mother. 
You will tell her that I cried/ and he embraced me, sob- 
bing. 

" He recovered himself in a moment, and said : 

" 'Allons, allo7is, until Tuesday. Don't forget my book.'" 

Notwithstanding the violences of which the insurrec- 
tional government had XDroved itself capable, no one be- 
lieved that they would go so far as to assassinate the hos- 
tages. Assassination it must be called, for there is no 
other name with which to qualify executions made with- 
out any motive of accusation, without judgment, without 
even an interrogatory. There is, however, a state of 
furious exaltation which, passing a certain degree, be- 
comes delirium, a bloody frenzy. When this exaltation, 
mingled with emphatic phrases, with words of right, of 
emancipation, and of social enfranchisement repeated far 
beyond their true signification, gains an ignorant crowd, 
spoiled by vanity and envy, then indeed the worst results 
are to be anticipated ; then the conscience becomes mute, 
all notions of equity are effaced, and the passions have full 
sway without any curb to restrain them. 



ADVANCE OF THE TROOPS. 373 

It would seem as though the army had a presentiment 
of these catastrophes from the ardor with which they car- 
ried the different positions, and the rapidity with which 
they advanced as far as the security of the general plan 
would allow. 

During the day of Wednesday, the 24th, the troops 
divided on the right bank into three principal columns, 
advanced through the 1st, 2d, 3d, and 10th Arrondisse- 
ments. In this last they had taken possession of the 
church of Saint-Vincent-de-Paul, of the Northern and 
Eastern Railway Stations, and commanded the Boulevard 
Magenta ; in the centre they had invaded the old boule- 
vards, and had carried the barricades of the Portes St. 
Denis and St. Martin. In abandoning the latter the Fed- 
erals had set fire to the Theatre of the Porte St. Martin, 
and to all the block of buildings beyond as far as the 
entrance of the Faubourg; towards the Seine, after a long 
and furious combat, they had become masters of the 
wheat-market, the central-market, of Saint-Eustache, and 
the insurgents, everywhere driven back, retired precipi- 
tately by the Eues Turbigo and Eambuteau to concen- 
trate at the grand fortress of the Chateau-d'Eau and at 
the Bastille. 

The insurgents in withdrawing set fire to the Church 
of Saint-Eustache, but the flames were fortunately extin- 
guished before they could do much damage. The spire 
was demolished during the bombardment. 

Finally, the soldiers conquered, step by step, after a 
series of fierce engagements, the Louvre, the Place Saint- 
Germain-l'Auxerrois, and the streets Saint-Honore and 
Rivoli as far as the Pont-Neuf. Most of the houses in 
these large thoroughfares bear the traces of bullets and 
shells ; many indeed were entirely destroyed. Arrived at the 
Rue des Halles and the Pont-Neuf, the assailants were joined 
in the Cite by one of the divisions of General de Cissey. 



374 THE PARIS COMMUITE. 

At the attack of the barricade of the Theatre FraiKjais, 
which was made by the Eue Montpensier, the Eue Eiche- 
lien, and the Eue Saint-Honore, many of the National 
Guards refused to surrender and were immediately shot. 

In the afternoon, at about three, the Palais Eoyal was 
set on fire by the insurgents. A merchant in the build- 
ing, believing the fire to be an accident, hastened to ofier 
his services, but was roughly received by a captain of the 
National Guard, who threatened to fire upon him if he did 
not immediately withdraw. He added that the quarter 
was to be blown up, and that everything must burn. 
Nevertheless, notwithstanding his menaces, two pumps 
were placed in action by the inhabitants of the neighbor- 
hood. It was then four o'clock. No water was to be 
had in the Court des Fontaines, and it was necessary to 
make a chain in the passage conducting to the Court of 
Plonor. 

A ladder was placed against the wall in order to reach 
the terrace of the Eue de Valois, but the menaces of the 
msurgents to fire were so precise that the attempt to save 
the pavilion from that side was abandoned. 

The fire and smoke poured forth from three windows 
above the terrace No. 17, where the flames were success- 
fully extinguished in the midst of shots fired from the 
barricade of the Eue de Eivoli. 

At five o'clock a pump was established in the Court of 
Honor, and a large quantity of paintings, precious mar- 
bles, furniture, etc., was saved. 

The chains were formed, but unfortunately the most 
difficult thing to obtain was water, the insurgents having 
cut all the pipes to insure the destruction of the palace. 
At seven o'clock several members of the Paris Fire Com- 
pany arrived, but by that time pavilion No. 1 was entirely 
consumed. 

On the arrival of the firemen, they began immediately 



PALAIS EOYAL BUENING. 375 

to combat the fire in pavilion No. 2, to prevent its gain- 
ing the apartments of the Princess Clotilde. The furni- 
ture of the chapel, and all the church ornaments were 
saved. 

Finally, at eight o'clock, the troops of the line arrived. 
They were received with cries of " Vivo la ligne ! " " Vive 
la France ! " 

The work was then continued with more calm, and a 
means was sought for attacking the fire from above — that 
is, from the second story or from the roofs. The great 
danger was from the theatre, which the flames were rapidly 
approaching. If this was reached, it was to be feared that 
the whole quarter would be destroyed. 

The idea was then formed of attacking the fire from 
the theatre itself, and of arresting the flames by means of 
its pipes. M. Le Sache placed himself at the head of this 
movement. Mounting on the roof with the head ma- 
chinist, he was obliged to hide himself, to avoid the balls 
fired by the Communists from the top of the Hotel du 
Louvre. Braving the danger, the roof was mined; the 
water finally arrived; and it was time. 

At ten o'clock, a body of thirty firemen appeared, and 
succeeded in rendering themselves masters of the flames. 
An hour sooner, the whole could have been saved. 

The resistance in the neighborhood of the Hotel de 
Ville was most obstinate, and before the defences sur- 
rounding the building had been entirely captured by the 
troops, it was evacuated and set on fire by the insurgents. 

Strategically a considerable advance had been made 
during the day. The line of investment had been greatly 
narrowed, thus enabling the different corps to render each 
other more assistance ; while the Federals, on the contfary, 
commenced to be discouraged, and were deprived of all 
unity of commandment, and of almost all combined direc- 
tion, dating from the 34th. They were isolated in two 



376 THE PAKIS COMMUNE. 

distinct combats on the right and left banks, where they 
accumulated uselessly at certain preferred points. 

As regarded the action, however, the most perilous por- 
tion of their task was yet to be achieved by the troops. 
They were approaching the traditional ground of the in- 
surrection, where the remembrance of former popular 
combats still heated the ardor of the insurgents, where 
narrow and winding streets succeed each other rapidly, 
still existing in great numbers beyond the Faubourg 
Poissoniere, the Eue Montorgueil, and the Eue St. Denis, 
notwithstanding the large avenues which have been mad'e 
through these populous quarters to the Place de la Bas- 
tille. 

They were penetrating, in fact, upon the theatre of the 
terrible days of June, 1848, which at that time seemed to 
those who witnessed them the end of all attempts at in- 
surrection in Paris, but whose scenes, reproduced with 
even more violence in the last days of the insurrection of 
1871, have seemed but slight episodes in this horrible 
street battle. 

The object of the army had been fully determined when 
it began its march on the morning of the 24th. On the 
right bank, their course has been already described ; their 
advance on the Hotel de Yille, in order to gain the Bas- 
tille by the Eue Saint Antoine ; the taking of the Central 
Market and the Eue Turbigo, opening the way to the 
Chateau d'Eau. In the centre, the march of General 
Douay's corps along the old boulevards also approaching 
the Chateau d'Eau, and in the north, the occupation of the 
Eue Lafayette as far as the l^orthern Eiailway Station and 
the Boulevard Magenta, in order to second either the at- 
tacl»on the Chateau d'Eau and the Bastille or that of La 
Villette and the Buttes Chaumont. 

On the left bank it was necessary to gain possession of 
the Pantheon before pushing on towards the Gobelins, 



A COWAKDLY INSURGENT. 377 

and to reacli tlie Orleans Eailway Station by taking pos- 
session of the quays, concurring on the way in the occu- 
pation of the Cite and the Hotel de Ville. 

Early on the morning of the 24th, the troops took pos- 
session of the barricade at the Barriere d'Enfer, after a 
violent combat. A large number of prisoners were taken. 
Among them was a staff captain, his breast covered with 
medals — the Crimean, Italian, Chinese, and Mexican, to- 
gether with three medals of salvage. This man, with a 
large face, full chest and bull neck, was dragged along 
pale and trembling, begging for mercy, telling of his de- 
votion to his fellow-creatures, of his wife and child who 
were expecting him at Charenton, and swearing that he 
had been taken by force to the barricades — which was suf- 
ficiently disproved by the grade he bore. 

The chasseur who had taken him prisoner, and torn 
from his hand the flag of the Commune, had been twice 
fired upon by this wretch. In direct contrast with this 
cowardice Avas the attitude of an old sergeant, at least 
sixty years of age, who stood firm and impassible amidst 
the shouts and execrations of the populace. 

The 24th, in. the morning, the occupation of the Fau- 
bourg Saint Germain was assured ; and at about eleven 
o'clock a portion of the troops of General de Cissey began, 
the attack of the Pantheon, in combining a double move- 
ment of approach by the Place Medicis and the Eue 
SouiSot, and by the Rues Gay-Lussac, Eoyer-Collard, and 
TJlm. At all these points the combat was exceedingly 
violent. 

A brigade, formed in three columns, opened the action 
by rushing on the Luxembourg through the gates of the 
garden, which open on the Eue d'Assas and the Eiie de 
Vaugirard, while the column on the right carried the 
Ecole des Mines, and extended its sharp-shooters the 
length of the railing in the Eue de Medicis. 



378 THE PARIS COMMUTE. 

At the satae time a battalion of chasseurs crossed the 
garden at a quickstep, and arrived at the gate of the Eue 
SouflQot, where, under a rain of bullets and shells thrown 
from the Pantheon, from the Eue Soufflot and its barri- 
cades, they broke down the gate, and carried the barricade 
which stood opposite, gaining possession of two mitrail- 
leuses. They then invaded the Boulevard Saint Michel, 
and established their guns on the barricades of the Eues 
Cujas and Mallebranche. 

The insurgents who had taken refuge behind the barri- 
cades of the Boulevard Saint Michel were able to com. 
mand these positions, and rendered them very dangerous 
for the troops who remained, during an hour, exposed to 
a most terrible fire, which did not however succeed in 
making them fall back. 

At this moment, the General Paturel who directed the 
attack was struck in the leg by a ball. He had remained 
with the most remarkable sang-froid at the head of the 
Boulevard Saint Michel, notwithstanding the terrible fire, 
giving his orders with the greatest calm, causing the 
points which seemed to him most important to be occu- 
pied, and going from barricade to barricade encouraging 
the troops by his presence. 

At the same time, another column, under the orders of 
General Bocher, carried, with equal intrepidity, the barri- 
cades erected in the Eues Eoyer-CoUard and Gay-Lussac, 
and advanced on the Pantheon by the Eues du Faubourg- 
Saint-Jacques and d'Ulm. 

The efforts on the side of the Place Saint-Michel were 
then redoubled. The fire of the National Guards being 
answered vigorously by the troops, gradually decreased in 
intensity, when the soldiers, advancing by the Eues Souf- 
flot, Cujas, and Mallebranche, attacked the barricades in 
front, and finally carried them, rejoining the column 
which issued from the Eue d'Ulm at the same moment. 



IKCENDIARY DESIGN'S. 379 

After a last attack with the bayonet, the insurgents were 
entirely routed, and fled towards the Gobelins and the 
Barriere d'ltalie. The Pantheon was taken. It was time; 
without the rapidity of the action, which had thrown 
trouble and disorder among the Federals, this monument 
would have been broken to fragments by a horrible ex- 
plosion. The order had been given to blow up the Pan- 
theon ; barrels of powder, and vats filled with petroleum, 
placed in the cellars, only awaited the electric spark. 

There, as in many other places, time had failed the insur- 
gents, and prevented them from giving free course to their 
terrible designs. 

These designs were not due, as one would like to be- 
lieve, to the sudden inspiration of madmen, drunk with 
whiskey, poAvder and despair. No ! It is certain, unhap- 
pily for the honor of human nature, that these projects 
of destruction, dictated by a true sentiment of social 
hatred, formed a part of the plan of resistance of the 
Commune and the Central Committee, and were, above 
all, entertained by the members of the Committee of Pub- 
lic Safety. 

The burning of so many public monuments, of so much 
private property, is a sufficient proof of this design ; and 
yet all these conflagrations were, thanks to the prompti- 
tude of the military operations, but partial incidents in a 
general system conceived for the ruin of Paris. 

Discoveries have been made in most of the quarters of 
quantities of powder and petroleum placed in the sewers, 
in the depths of cellars, in the different stories of houses, 
in the interior of public edifices, placed in such a manner 
as to blow up or set on fire entire streets. 

Finally, written orders have been found on the different 
chiefs of the insurrection, denoting how carefully the hor- 
rible combination had been carried out. 

Tliose ordering the formation of four companies under 



380 THE PARIS COMMUNE. 

the orders of Milli^re, Dereure, Billioray, and Vesinier, 
for the purpose of setting fire to the different quarters of 
Paris, have been ah'eady given in this work. 

On the 24th of May, at nine in the evening, the follow- 
ing notice was placarded on the walls of the 11th Arron- 
dissement : 

"C0MMU2>rE OF PARIS. 

" Order, 

" 4 Prairial, year 79, 9 p. m. 

" Any house from the windows of which a shot is fired 
on the National Guards will he immediately destroyed ; 
and all the inhabitants who do not deliver or themselves 
execute the author of such a crime, will be immediately 
shot. 

"The CoMMissiois" of War." 

The following order was found on an insurgent killed 
at the barricade of the Croix Eouge : 

" The bearer of this order is authorized to destroy by 
fire or mine any public or private establishment prejudi- 
cial to the defence of the Commune." 

At the moment when the attack on the Pantheon was 
in full progress, the fighting was suspended on both sides 
for several moments by a terrible detonation which shook 
the quarter of the Luxembourg to its very foundations. 

A powder magazine situated in the back of the garden, 
near the Eue de I'Ouest, had been exploded by the insur- 
gents, who had communicated a spark to the powder by 
means of an electric wire. The noise was frightful ; a 
great number of houses in the Eue de I'Ouest, in the 
Boulevard Saint-Michel near the Observatory, were much 
injured ; also those in the Eues d'Enfer, D'Assas, De Yau- 
girard, De Madame, De Fleurus, etc. In the Place de 
Medicis, and the neighboring portion of the Boulevard 
Saint-Michel, the fronts of the shops had been literally torn 




RAQUL RIGAULT 
ComiTiune of Pans 

1871 



RAOUL RIGAULT'S ARREST. 381 

away. Throughout the whole quarter, all the windows 
were broken into thousands of pieces. 

This secondary injury was happily the only one sus- 
tained by the Palace of the Luxembourg, so near the 
scene of the explosion. 

Clouds of dust obscured the light of the sun ; the in- 
habitants everywhere rushed out into the courts and 
streets, fearing every moment to be crushed beneath their 
falling houses; remains of furniture, of glass, of timber, 
of marble, were thrown far and wide, covering the ground. 
in every direction. While the terror was at its height, 
the battle recommenced; and it became all the more 
difficult to escape disaster, as, fleeing from the rain of fall- 
ing fragments, the unhappy inhabitants were often reached 
by the balls of the combatants. It was during this same 
day of the 24th that Eaoul Eigault, Procurator of the 
Commune, was shot. 

He came at about three in the afternoon, to give 
instructions regarding the defence to the Federals of the 
5th Arrondissement. He then went to the Eue -Gay- 
Lussac, where he had hired a hotel under the name of 
Varcla, which hotel was inhabited by an actress of one 
of the smaller Parisian theatres. 

As he placed his hand upon the door-bell, the soldiers 
of the line made their appearance by the Eue des Feuil- 
lantines. At the sight of Eaoul Eigault, who wore the 
uniform of a chief, they fired without reaching him. 

The door opened at the same instant, and Eigault 
entered, closely followed by the soldiers. They first seized 
upon the proprietor of the house, who was in shirt-sleeves, 
taking him for the man they sought, on account of his 
black beard, which resembled that worn by Eigault. A 
surgeon who inhabited the house hastened to inform them 
that they had seized a peaceful man, entirely stranger to 
all political quarrels. 



382 THE PAEIS OOMMUKE. 

The soldiers then began to search the house, and soon 
laid their hands upon Eigault, who, having given his 
name, followed them quietly. 

They then descended the Rue Gay-Lussac, leading their 
prisoner to the Luxembourg. When at the Eue Royer- 
Collard they met a colonel of the staff, who asked his 
name. Rigault replied with a shout of " Vive la Com- 
mune ! a has les assassins ! " 

He was forthwith placed against the wall and shot. 
His body lay abandoned at the entrance of the street for 
twenty-four hours, and presented a frightful spectacle. 
His head, surrounded by hair and beard, glued with blood, 
was horrible to see. The left side of the face was entirely 
crushed, and formed an undistinguishable mass, while the 
right eye, which alone remained, stood open, fixed and 
haggard in its expression. 

Early in life Eaoul Eigault had felt himself made for a 
double vocation, that of forming conspiracies and Of doing 
the police on a large scale. These two specialties would 
seem at first sight to exclude each other, but he managed 
to conciliate two things apparently so hostile. Friend 
and disciple of L. A. Blanqui, he is believed to have 
derived his strange tastes from the French Mazzini. In 
his youth he had entered several schools, attempted a 
little of everything without any success, particularly the 
preparation for the Polytechnic School; and from these 
different failures at his examinations he had drawn a feel- 
ing of envy and hatred of others vfhicli prompted him to 
destroy everything. One is tempted to believe that the 
defeats which he had undergone counted for something in 
the extravagance of his radicalism. 

His old father — a most honorable man — and his brother, 
a young man, sensible and well-bred, had both attempted 
at different times to bring back this prodigal son to his 
family, but always without success. He was entirely 



SKETCH or KIGAULT'S LIFE. 383 

absorbed in politics and the police. In writing for dif- 
ferent papers, he always had in view this double work. 
In 1870, at the time of the process of Blois, when he had 
to reply in regard to facts touching the conspiracy, he had 
for an advocate M. Lachaud, to whom he confided the 
vivacity of his instincts. 

During the Commune this advocate had need of a per- 
mit of circulation, of which the delegate to the police was 
so avaricious. He asked and obtained it, remarking at 
the same time to his former client that he must have 
reached the height of his desires, since he was at the same 
time member of the government and chief of the police. 
" Without doubt," replied Eigault, " only it must last." 

After the revolution of the 4th of September, he had 
found means of introducing himself to M. Keratry, and 
had placed his hands on all that was most mysterious or 
most intricate in the Eue de Jerusalem. When M. 
Keratry ceded his functions to M. Edmond Adam, the 
young conspirator was obliged to retire also. In leaving 
the Prefecture of Police, he carried with him a large 
quantity of documents relative to the secret police ; and 
afterwards published a list of the ex-democrats who had 
been paid during the Empire to denounce the proceedings 
of the party to which they had belonged. Fifteen or 
twenty persons had thus their proceedings laid bare, but 
they were for the most part illiterate men, drunkards, or 
laborers without work, whom M. Ernest Picard calls with 
reason the " low demagogy." 

By constantly frequenting the clubs from the beginning 
of the siege, Kaoul Eigault gained a certain popularity 
which caused him to be named chief of one of the bat- 
talions of the 5th Arrondissement. 

This title, and the embroideries it enabled him to wear, 
helped him to become initiated in the Eepublican Con- 
federation, presided over by the ex-Count du Bisson, 



384 THE PAEIS COMMUNE. 

general under the Commune. At the revolution of the 
18th of March, the monomaniac had only to present him- 
self at the Prefecture of Police in order to take possession. 
From that day he reigned there, not- as master, but as 
tyrant. 

Eigid in his attitude, hard and brief in his words, 
listening only to the passion which dominated him, to 
such an extent that he would hear neither his friends nor 
his equals, he spread over Paris an immense web, entang- 
ling in its threads all persons hostile to the Communal 
movement ; and, as is well known, their number was not 
few. 

In the derisive elections made on the 26th of Marcli, he 
was elected member of the Commune by a small majority, 
and in the sittings of that body he supported with all his 
power the necessity of imitating the movement of '92 in 
every proceeding. To this was added the arrest of hos- 
tages—a practice which had been renewed by the Prus- 
sians. 

Before him the priests first appeared after their arrest. 
Monseigneur Darboy having been conducted to his ante- 
room, entered, saying mildly to those present, " What do 
you wish, my children ? " 

"Citizen," replied Eaoul Eigault, roughly, "leave off 
that wheedling and familiar manner of speaking. Do not 
forget that you are in the presence of a magistrate," and 
he showed his scarf of Prefecture of Police. 

From the moment he became member of the Commune 
he dreamed only of uniting his functions of Delegate of 
Police with those of Procurator-General. He had thus 
gained one quality more, and a new pretext for meddling 
in public affairs. His ideal was to himself sue those 
whom he had arrested; and twice during the sittings of 
court-martial he demanded, without any hesitation, sen- 
tences of death. 



RIGAULT'S PRIEND PILOTELL. 385 

It is not to be wondered at that, from the beginning of 
April, his very name caused a certain terror ; men ordi- 
narily full of courage avoided going where they were in the 
habit of meeting him; a single sign of his hand being 
sufficient to cause any one's arrest, while no one knew 
what might become of his prisoners. 

From the day of his entrance into power, Rigault had 
taken as associate a third-class artist called Pilotell, whom 
he employed in seizing his victims. One of these, M. 
Polo, director of the Eclipse, was imprisoned for having 
sent copies of his paper to Versailles, and plundered at 
the same time of 3,000 francs. His real offence consisted 
in not having accepted for his satirical sheets all the car- 
icatures presented by Pilotell. He was afterwards set at 
liberty through the efforts of his friends, but his three 
thousand francs were not returned. 

Pilotell was later employed in making a domiciliary 
visit at the house of Grustave Chaudey. Having taken 
X)ossession of all the papers on which he could lay his 
hands, he discovered in the bottom of a drawer 815 francs 
in gold, which he pocketed, saying to Madame Chaudey, 
who was present, " Who knows ? There is perhaps blood 
oa this gold." 

The following curious conversation, vrhicli was held 
by Eaoul Eigault and M. Cochinat, who went to demand 
the liberation of M. Balathier de Bragelone, editor of the 
Petite Presse, arrested without any plausible motive, will 
explain the object of many of his public acts : 

Eigault having at first refused, without giving any 
reason, to grant the demand of M. Cochinat, the latter 
rdhiarked that he was making very free with the liberty 
of tlie press. 

" The liberty of the press ! " rephed Eigault ; "connais 
pas !" 

"What! you know nothing about it! Why, you de- 
17 



386 THE PARIS COMMUKE. 

manded it every day in the Marseillaise, of which you 
were one of the editors ! " 

"Ah ! not I ; the others ! At all events, that was in the 
time of Badinguet. As for me, I always declared loudly 
that we would not suffer hostile papers luJien loe loere the 
strongest. As we are the strongest now, we can't have 
any." 

" But will you always be the strongest ? " 

" Certainly ; Paris is impregnable, and Versailles must 
finally yield." 

" And the provinces ? " 

"The provinces ! "he replied, laughingly ; "much we care 
for the provinces ! " 

To that there was no reply, but M. Cochinat used other 
arguments, which finally induced Eigault to give an order 
to Dacosta, his private secretary, for the liberation of M. 
Balathier. 

M. Cochinat then asked Eigault if he did not think it 
' . peurile and absurd to arrest journalists so moderate in 

"Sieir language as M. Balathier and others ? to which 

Eigault replied that he quite agreed with him ; above all, 
as the arrests gave him a great deal of work. 

■ " Then why," said he, " do you do these things if you 
yourself think them absurd ?" 

" Ah," he replied, with a careless air, " because it keeps 
up ' ^me petite terreur' in the city." 

Such were the individuals for whom thousands of un- 
happy creatures lost their lives or liberty. 

Although the Commune ostensibly allowed but six 
thousand francs a year to its highest functionaries, they 
managed to lead la vie douce in it fullest significatidli. 
The following bills of fare of two breakfasts taken at the 
restaurant of the Fr^res-Proven9aux by Eaoul Eigault 
and his secretary Dacosta, show at least that they were 
connoisseurs in matters of the table : 



COMMUNIST FAEE. 387 

Breakfast of May lOtli. 

Frs. C. 

Nuits 15 

Clos-Vougeot 13 

Bread 50 

Hors-d'oeuvre 3 

Sole 3 

Chateaubriand aux truffes 8 

Chicken 13 

Salad 150 

Cheese 75 

Oranges 3 

Coffee, liqueurs '• 4' 

Cigars-Cazadores 13 50 

Total •. 75 25 

Breahfast of May 15th. 

Frs. C. 

Pomard. 5 

Nuits 10 

Clicquot 13 

Bread 50 

Hors-d'cEuvre 1 60 

Mackerel 3 

Cote provengale 3 75 

Chicken 13 

Salad ; . 1 50 

Cheese 50 

Ices 3 

Coffee, liqueurs ., 3 

Cigars 6 

Total 63 85 

At this restaurant Eigault was in tlie habit of taking 
most of his repasts. 

After his dinner, Eigault's evenings were mostly spent 
in drinking and smoking in front of the cafes in the Bonle- 



388 THE PARIS COMMUNE. 

yard Saint-Michel. One night, sitting before the cafe 
Soufiiot, the man of pleasure becoming for an instant 
effaced by the fanatic, he exclaimed, in striking his glass 
against that of his neighbor, that he " should like to place 
a bouquet of 300,000 decapitated heads around the feet of 
the statue of Liberty." 

During the day of the 24th, the service of artillery had 
been reorganized at Montmartre, and about half past seven 
in the evening a furious cannonade was begun. The bat- 
teries of Montmartre thundered against La Chapelle, La 
Villette, and the Buttes Chaumont, while those of the 
Pantheon covered with shells the neighborhood of the 
Place de la Bastille. 

At ten o'clock the fire became most intense, and those 
who heard those detonations will never forget the terrible 
uproar. It was no longer roaring cannons exchanging 
regularly their projectiles, but a continual rolling of shot 
upon shot, coming from an army of batteries placed in 
every direction. The Seine Itself took part in the strug- 
gle, and the gunboats moored beneath the bridges poured 
forth fire like so many volcanoes. The musketry fire was 
so rapid that the sound resembled the whistling rush of 
a mighty wind, now and then deadened by the sharp rattle 
of the mitrailleuse. 

The battle was everywhere going on : at La Villette, on 
the boulevards, at the Hotel de Ville, the Luxembourg, 
and the Pont ISTeuf. Paris was entirely lost in a cloud of 
smoke, lighted now and then by the flashes of the cannon, 
and reddened by the flames of burning buildings. From 
La Villette and the Buttes Chaumont, shells were thrown 
to every portion of the right bank. No quarter was 
spared. Incendiary projectiles fell in quantities in the 
Eue de la Monnaie, on the Place Saint-Germain-l'Auxer- 
rois, in the Central Markets, the Eue Montmartre, Place 
de la Bourse, the Eue Neuve des Petits-Champs, the Place 



THE KIGHT OF MAY 24. 389 

Ventadour, the Marclic Saint-Honore, on the Bouleyard 
des Italiens, Eiie de la Chaussee-d'Antin, Eue Blanche, 
Eue Pigalle, and all the streets extending from there to 
the Faubourg Saint-Martin. 

Had Montniartre been able to add its fire to that of the 
two formidable positions still held by the insurgents, half 
of Paris would have been reduced to ashes. As it was, the 
destruction was enormous ; and though most of the inhab- 
itants had the precaution to take refuge in the cellars, the 
number of victims to this bombardment was very great. 

No ! Paris will never forget the night of the 24th of 
May, to which history can find no parallel unless perhaps 
the 24th of August, 1572 — all fanaticisms, whether reli- 
gious or revolutionary, resembling each other in their 
blind transports of fury. To find anything truly similar 
to the burning of Paris we must remount to the celebrated 
night on which Nero treated himself to the spectacle of 
Home in flames. What was done by the Roman Emperor 
from a mere whim of ferocious curiosity, the Commune 
did not hesitate to do incited by a furious desire for re- 
venge ; uniting thus in their hatred of the future, modern 
demagogy with the most hateful of the tyrannies of ancient 
Rome. 

Nothing can express the cruel impression produced 
during the night as each new fire broke forth, extending 
along the line of the horizon from the Hotel de Ville to 
the Place de la Concorde. As each new light appeared, 
people questioned each other with anxiety as to what 
building it might be on which the work of destruction 
was being completed. 

In the evening, a little before nightfall, thick clouds of 
smoke had announced the points at which the fire had 
declared itself; but the gravity of the situation was not 
realized until darkness fell upon the city. Then the 
flames became more distinct, reddening the sky in every 



390 THE PAKIS COMMUKE. 

direction, and rendering it more easy to judge of the ex- 
tent of the disaster. 

The conflagration of the upper portions of the pavilions 
of the Tuileries presented the most terrible spectacle that 
can well be imagined. The flames could be plainly per- 
ceived, and every instant immense columns of sparks rose 
high in the air, falling like a volcanic eruption on the. 
surrounding quarters. From the neighborhood of Mont- 
martre the fire could be distinctly seen, extending and 
reaching the gallery which connects the Pavilion Maison 
with the Louvre ; and at that terrible moment it seemed 
inevitable that the depot of such immense and wonderful 
treasures, once lost never to be replaced, would also be- 
come a prey to the flames. The conflagration of the 
Palais-Eoyal confounded its light with that of the Tuile- 
ries gallery. 

Looking towards the right in the directio» of the 
Place-de-la-Concorde, a long line of fire denoted the posi- 
tion of the Ministry of Finance, which had continued 
since Monday to pour forth columns of reddened smoke. 
In the obscurity this immense furnace, from which gigan- 
tic flames leaped forth, mingled with bright sparks from 
the masses of burning paper, presented a terrible picture, 
contrasting with the dark clouds that hung like a pall 
over the doomed houses of the Eue Royale. On the left, 
towards Saint-Grermain-l'Auxerrois, the Palace of Justice, 
the Central Markets, and the Hotel de Ville, were all in 
flames. 

Soon this immense zone, from the Place-de-la-Concorde 
to the Hotel de Ville, was veiled in smoke, from which 
jets of flame shot forth here and there, indicating the 
situation of the different conflagrations. 

Beyond this first line, new columns of fire might be 
seen rising from the left bank of the Seine, announcing 
continually new disasters. The Conseil d'Etat, the Pal- 



IISTCENDIARY ORDERS. 391 

ace of the Legion d'Honneur, and the Caisse des Depots et 
Consignations, were also in flames. 

This terrible spectacle, less frightful during the day, 
gave to the nights of the 23d and 24tli an aspect of "vvhich 
the horror cannot be described, but such as can never be 
effaced from the memory of all who witnessed it. 

As early as Monday morning the Palace of Justice had 
been covered with petroleum by order of Eaoul Eigault. 
In order that this infernal work should not be deranged, 
a battalion of Federals was placed on guard around the 
Palace, and two men were sent by the Commissary of Po- 
lice to Wurtz (Eigault's substitute) with the following 
recommendation : 

" COMMISSAEIAT DE POLICE, DU PAIAIS DB JtJSTICB. 

Citotek: — Prenez ces deux citoyens qui sont deux 
bons bougres a poll. 

*' Breuille." 

These men accomplished their task conscientiously, 
and the building was set on fire. 

The Prefecture of Police had been taken possession of 
on the 18th of March by Eaoul Eigault, who had imme- 
diately installed himself as Prefect. The employes left 
him and his band masters of the establishment, and took 
their departure for Versailles. They were easily replaced, 
however, by Eigault, who recruited among his friends and 
acquaintances a collection of individuals who had never 
before been guilty of holding a situation. 

The new employes of the Prefecture passed their time 
most delightfully, drinking innumerable jugs of beer, and 
smoking endless pipes. The chest of the administration 
paid for all these libations, and finally two of these indi- 
viduals, Eiel and Leballeur, were imprisoned.for drawing 
too liberally upon it. 

On Tuesday, the 23d, Th. Ferre, who was Prefect at 



392 THE PARIS COMMUNE. 

the time of the entrance of the Government troops, or- 
dered the walls of the building to be covered with petro- 
leum. The concierge Charlet, wishing to oppose this 
criminal act, was immediately imprisoned. 

That same evening Ferre gave a grand banquet to 
twenty-eight of his friends and accomplices. Their orgies 
lasted until the following morning, when they fired the 
building at eleven different points, and immediately took 
their departure. 

At the Conciergerie, meanwhile, the prisoners had been 
set at liberty. At eleven on the morning of the 24th, 
Eaoul Eigault made his appearance in the prison, and 
gave the order for their liberation, and they were forth- 
with released, one hundred and fifty in number. 

Hardly had they left the prison when they found them- 
selves everywhere surrounded by barricades, which they 
were ordered by the Federals to defend under pain of 
death. They all refused emphatically to make use of the 
arms presented to them against the troops. A young girl 
of fifteen, wearing a red sash across her shoulders, was 
particularly violent in calling upon the prisoners to de- 
fend the barricades. 

The prisoners then took to flight amidst a rain of bul- 
lets sent against them by the Federals, and, sooner than 
draw upon the regular army, they took refuge in the Pre- 
fecture, in the midst of a court which the fire had trans- 
formed into a veritable furnace. 

There they remained until five o'clock, when they were 
rescued by Lieutenant Berger, at the head of a detach- 
ment of the 79th of the line. 

Among the prisoners who found themselves in this ter- 
rible position were the Prince Galitzin and M. Andreoli, 
director of the Ohservateur. 



CHAPTER XII. 

Govemmeiit circular— Capture of the Butte-aux-Cailles— The Gobelins taken, 
but in flames — Fall of the forts Bicetre and Ivry— Massacre of Dominicans — 
Death of Millidre— Of Valles— General de Gissey— His brilliant career— Cap- 
ture of the Hotel de Ville— The building in ruins— Advance on the Place 
do la Bastille— Attack on the Austerlitz bridge — The Mazas prisoners re- 
leased — Their death— Citizen Vincent — The Grenier d'Abondance in flames — 
Despatch of Ferre toDelescluze — The Chateau d'Eau — Artifices of the Com- 
mune—The Boulevard Magenta— Capture of the Chateau d'Eau— Death of 
Delescluze— Papers found on his person — Large number of prisoners taken 
— Preparations for blowing up the neighborhood— Place du Trone— More 
victims at La Roquette— The remaining prisoners erect barricades within 
the building — Some of them leave the prison and are murdered— Announce- 
ment made by the Minister of War in the National Assembly— Circular of M. 
Jules Favre to French Representatives at Foreign Courts — Answer to the 
Belgian and Spanish Governments— Protest of M. Victor Hugo- He is 
ejected from Belgium— Conflagration of the docks of La Villette— Oflcrs of 
firemen made by the English and Belgian Governments. 

THE terrible cannonade kept np during the night 
obliged the insurgents to evacuate the central por- 
tion of the city, and take refuge in the northwestern 
quarter, leaving onl}'- near the Halles and the Palais Eoyal 
a few battalions sacrificed in advance. Protected by their 
sharpshooters, and by the conflagrations they had lighted, 
they hoped sufficiently to cover their retreat. 

It is thought that they intended, under the protection 
of the cannon of the Buttes Chaumont, to retake the ex- 
terior boulevards, and thus cut off the Prench army ; but 
they were then too utterly demoralized to attempt any- 
thing of the sort. Pleeing in disorder, and thrown back 
upon their last entrenchments, what could they do? 
Sally out by the northeast and abandon the place ? It 



394 THE PAEIS COMMUNE. 

was not to be thouglit of > the Prussians were there, bar- 
ring the passage to the people they had taken such plea- 
sure in seeing at worh. 

The Communists were caged ; nothing remained but to 
sell their lives as dearly as possible, and to fight to the 
last. " Better death than Cayenne " was on every tongue ; 
all felt that no mercy could be accorded to such as they, 
and nerved themselves with the energy of despair. 

On Thursday, the 25th of May, at seven in the morn- 
ing, the following despatch was sent by M. Thiers to the 
different Prefects 

"We are masters of Paris, with the exception of a small 
portion, which will probably be occupied this morning. 
The Tuileries is in ashes ; the Louvre is saved. The 
portion of the Ministry of Finance which fronts on the 
Eue de Eivoli has been destroyed. The palace of the Quai 
d'Orsay, in which the Conseil-d'Etat and the Cour des 
Comptes held their sittings, has also been burned. This 
is the state in which Paris is delivered to us by the 
wretches who oppressed and dishonored it. They 'have 
left in our hands 12,000 prisoners, and we shall probably 
have at the end from 18,000 to 20,000. The soil of Paris 
is strewed with their dead bodies. This horrible spec- 
tacle will serve, it is to be hoped, as a lesson to the insur- 
gents who dared to declare themselves partisans of the 
Commune. Justice, however, will soon satisfy the human 
conscience, . outraged by the monstrous acts of which 
Prance and the world have been the witness. 

" The army has been admirable. "We are happy to be 
able to announce in the midst of our misfortunes that, 
owing to the wisdom of our generals, the loss among the 
troops is very slight." 

At nine o'clock fifty-five minutes. General de Cissey 
sent the following despatch from the Luxembourg : 



THE EAG-PICKERS OF PARIS. 395 

" The fort of Montronge and that of Hautes-Bruyeres 
are ours. . . . We are masters of the Pantheon, of the 
Halle aux Vins, and all the neighborhood. The Barriere- 
dTtalie only remains for us to take. I shall close and 
occupy all the gates as far as the Seine, Advance your 
troops and occupy Choisy-le-Eoi, I'Hay, and neighbor- 
hood. Strengthen the investment ; let no one leave the 
city." 

The soldiers had, in fact, after a few hours' repose, 
necessitated by the terrible struggle of the previous day, 
continued their advance at an early hour. 

After the capture of the Barri^re d'Enfer and Mont- 
rouge by the troops on the previous day, the insurgents 
had established themselves in force (from 7,000 to 8,000) on 
a height called the Butte-aux-Cailles. Their artillery com- 
manded the quarter of Montrouge, which they covered 
with shells, while their sharp-shooters, descending into 
the valley, made an offensive demonstration against the 
regular troops, who found themselves thus arrested in their 
movement. They held good, however, during the evening 
and throughout the night. On Thursday morning they 
were reinforced, and a battery was established behind the 
Sceaux Eailway, which covered the Butte-aux-Cailles with 
its fire;, at the same time the soldiers advanced to the 
attack in front, and, after a most deadly struggle, carried 
the position. 

The operations were then continued in the direction of 
the Gobelins, the troops advancing through the streets of 
the Faubourg Saint-Marceau. The resistance was pro- 
longed during several hours, though without much energy 
on the part of the insurrection. The population in this 
quarter, composed in great part of rag-pickers, especially 
in the Eue Mouffetard, had, forming a curious exception, 
little sympathy witli Communist ideas, either from a sort 



396 THE PAEIS COMMUNE. 

of philosophical indiJBference often to be observed among 
the followers of this trade, or rather perhaps from the 
decline which the reign of the Commune had brought 
upon this industry, not so wretched a one as is generally 
imagined. It was, in fact, to be remarked during the first 
siege of Paris, and after the 18th of March, that there was 
quite a scarcity of rags on the Parisian payements, and the 
rag-pickers, always enemies of chimeras and declamations, 
had doubtless borne a grudge against the Commune. 

Be that as it may, the barricades of the Rue Mouffetard 
were feebly defended, and the Gobelins carried without too 
vigorous an effort. But the insurgents, in abandoning 
this magnificent establishment of so national a character, 
delivered it as a prey to the flames. In a few moments 
the tapestry and looms of the work-shops were destroyed, 
and the saloon of designs and sculptures, and the precious 
collection of the most remarkable tapestries executed from 
the seventeenth century down to our time, were reduced 
to ashes. This act, as well as the burning of the docks, 
was a direct outrage on labor, whose intelligent workman- 
ship had been so directly manifested in these magnificent 
productions. 

The regular forces advanced without interruption, push- 
ing back the l!^ational Guards to the Barriere d'ltalie, 
where they dispersed on all sides, leaving numerous pris- 
oners. The troops then re-descended the boulevard to the 
Austerlitz Bridge, rejoining the left wing of General dc 
Cissey's corps, which had advanced along the quays of 
the left bank of the Seine, and had, after a succession of 
vigorous engagements, taken possession of the Bridges 
des Saints-Peres, Pont ISTeuf, Saint-Michel, and Notre 
Dame. They then established themselves at the Jardin 
des Plantes and the Orleans Eailway Station, having left 
sufficient force behind to secure their rear and to co-ope- 
rate in ifche taking of the Hotel de Ville. 



MOEE ARRESTS. 397 

The fall of the position of the insurgents at the Butte- 
aus-Cailles had hastened that of the Forts Bicetre and 
Ivry, both taken by an assault of the cavalry of General 
du Barrail. A shell having fallen in the powder-maga- 
zine of the latter fort caused a terrible explosion. Profit- 
ing by the confusion which ensued, the dragoons rushed 
to the assault, and gained possession of the fort, Wro- 
bleski surrendering himself prisoner with 6,000 insur- 
gents. 

Meanwhile another horrible massacre of hostages had 
taken place ; more victims to the insatiable revenge of the 
Commune had been added to the lists of horrors with 
which that body intended to startle the world. 

On Friday, May 19th, two battalions of Federals, the 
101st and 120th, appeared at Arcueil, led by Commandant 
Quesnot and Citizen Milliere. Entering the College of 
Dominican Friars, they carried off as hostages sis of the 
Fathers who were in the college, together with several 
professors and domestics, in all twenty-four persons, and 
conducted them to the Fort Bicetre. 

Twelve sisters of Saint-Marc, charged with the ambu- 
lance of Arcueil, who had been employed during the whole 
of the preceding night in picking up the wounded ISTa- 
tional Guards, and giving them every care, were also torn 
away from Arcueil and conducted to the prison of Saint- 
Lazare. From that day they have not been heard of. 

The Father Captier, Superior of the Dominican College, 
and his twenty-three companions in captivity, were taken 
to Bicetre. Here, having been robbed of their money, and 
thoroughly searched, they were shut up in a casemate, 
where they remained during eight days, their only bed 
being a little straw, and their nourishment bread and 
water, which the Federals neglected to give them during 
the last two days. They were made to pass through a 
semblance of an interrogatory, after which they were told 



398 THE PAEIS COMMUTE. 

that, tlioiigli recognized innocent, they would be retained 
as hostages. 

On Thursday, May 25th, the Federals evacuated Bicetre. 
A Belgian and an Italian domestic belonging to the Col- 
lege d'Arcueil were released while the others were led 
away prisoners, the Federals telling them that as soon as 
they arriyed at the Barriere Fontainebleau they should be 
set free. 

In leaving the fort, a few shots, fired through careless- 
ness, caused a panic among the Federals, in consequence 
of which one of the fathers, the Pere Eousselin, succeeded 
in making his escape. 

During the transfer the unhappy Dominicans were 
continually outraged and insulted by the people in that 
quarter. Arrived at the Mairie of the Eoute d'ltalie, they 
were placed in a court where shells were perpetually fall- 
ing ; they were then taken to the 9th section and again 
interrogated. 

At half-past two a man in a red shirt arrived, calling, 
" "We Avant workmen for the barricades. What are these 
cassocks doing here. Bring them along, it is just what 
we want." 

The prisoners were then conducted to a barricade where 
the balls fell with such rapidity that the insurgents could 
not retain possession, and they were led back again to the 
section by order of Colonel Cerisier. 

At four o'clock a new order arrived from the same per- 
sonage brought by a red shirt; the Dominicans were 
placed in file two by two, and told to go but, that they 
were free. Understanding the sinister meaning of thoge 
words, Father Captier advanced, saying, " Allans, mes amis, 
pour le ion Dieu ! " 

Hardly had he advanced a few steps when he was 
struck by several balls, and instantly killed. Twenty-one 
out of the twenty-four were successively shot; five 



MILLIERE AREESTED. 399 

Dominicans, Fathers Captier, Cothereau, Bourard, Del- 
liorme, Chiltaigncraic ; two civil professors, MM. Volant 
and Gauquelin ; and several domestics, three of whom 
were fathers of families, whose wives had been taken as 
prisoners to Saint Lazare. 

Having fired npon their victims, the Federals finished 
the terrible work with their bayonets, or with blows from 
the butts of their muskets ; the bodies were so terribly 
mutilated that it was afterwards impossible to recognize 
their identity. 

On Thursday morning the insurgents had commenced 
the pillage of the College of Arcueil, but were interrupted 
by the arrival of the Versailles troops. In this college, 
early in September, an ambulance had been established 
which remained open during the siege, although situated at 
the very outposts, and exposed to Prussian shells and balls. 
This hospitable house was well known to the soldiers, 
and the only one that remained open in the midst of the 
abandoned and deserted villages. 

There was no one who, more than Father Captier, 
joined to the Christian faith an ardent feeling of patriot- 
ism, together with all the qualities which make a great 
citizen, too worthy, alas ! to draw down the hatred of those 
who proved themselves enemies to all country, all liberty, 
and all religion. 

Eetribution, however, had overtaken during the day 
several members of the Commune. 

Milliere had taken refuge at the house of his father-in- 
law, No. 38 Eue d'Ulm. On Thursday morning a ser- 
geant of the line, breakfasting at a small cafe in the neigh- 
borhood, overheard a woman who was speaking of the 
Commune, say, " Ah ! there is a good capture to be made, 
but the individual is in safety in the Eue d'Ulm." The 
sergeant shortly after took his departure, and, joined 
by several of his comrades, searched carefully the Eue 



400 THE PAEIS COMMUKE. 

d'Ulm. Arrived at No. 38, the apartment of M. Foiir^s, 
father-in-law of Milliere, was searched with particular care. 
'No one was discovered, but a soldier watching at the door 
saw the ex-deputy in the act of escape. Seeing all hope 
impossible, he drew his revolver and fired six times, but 
without wounding any one. 

He was immediately conducted before General de Cissey, 
where he replied with firmness to the questions made to 
him. He was then directed towards the Pantheon. As 
he mounted the steps of the peristyle, an officer pointed 
out to him the traces of balls. It was there that, two 
days before, thirty National Guards Avere shot by his 
orders for having refused to defend the barricades. 

Arrived at the top of the steps he stood facing the sol- 
diers, when an officer obliged him to turn his face towards 
the door of the church, with his back to the troops ; but 
by counter-order of a superior officer, he was again made 
to resume his former position, at the same time being 
forced to kneel. 

Milliere uncovered his breast, and, lifting his right 
arm, cried in a loud tone, " Vive la IlepuUique / . . . Vive 
lo Peuple ! . . . Vive VHumanite ! . . . Vive ." A dis- 
charge of chassepots interrupted his last words, and he 
fell leaning towards his left side. 

His shirt was pierced v/ith balls near the heart, over 
which a large stain of blood appeared. One ball had 
struck him in the right eye. An officer then approached, 
and, placing his revolver at his ear, fired, giving him the 
coup de grace. Milliere's wife had been killed on the pre- 
vious day fighting at a barricade. 

On the same day another of Milliere's associates met 
the just reward of his crimes. This was Jules Valles, the 
man who, in writing of defending Paris, said that the 
Commune would defend it by every means, and added: 
"If M. Thiers is a chemist, he will understand us." 




MILLIERE 
Cammurie of Pans 
1871 



EXECUTION" OP VALLES. 401 

Valles "was led out from the theatre of the Chatelet at six 
o'clock on Thtirsday eyening by the platoon charged "with 
his execution. He was dressed in a black coat and liglit 
trousers of a yellowish tinge. He wore no hat, and his 
beard, which had been shaved off a short time before, was 
yery short and turning gray. 

In entering the street where his sentence was to be ex- 
ecuted, a feeling of self-preservation restored to him the 
energy which had previously abandoned him. He wished 
to flee ; but being held by the soldiers, he became horri- 
bly infuriated, calling, " A Vassassin ! " twisting himself, 
seizing his executioners by the throat, biting them, in 
fact opposing a despairing resistance. 

The soldiers commenced to be embarrassed and some- 
what moved by this terrible struggle for life, when one 
of them passing behind him gave him a furious blow on 
the back with his musket, and the wretched man fell with 
a dull groan to the ground. 

His spine was doubtless fractured ; several shots were 
then fired upon him, and he received also two or three 
bayonet thrusts. As he still breathed, one of the soldiers 
advanced and discharged his chassepot in his ear. His 
body was then abandoned until it should be carried away 
by those charged, during those bloody days, with that 
commission. 

On Thursday night the left bank of the Seine was com- 
pletely freed from every element of insurrection. GTen- 
eral de Cissey, who conducted all the military operations 
in that portion of Paris, and who has since been nomi- 
nated Minister of "War, is one of the most brilliant of the 
French ofiicers. Earely has any military career presented 
a finer list of services rendered, all his grades having been 
gained in campaign and on the field of battle. The 
army whicli he has been called to reorganize, and to 



402 THE PARIS COMMUKE. 

whom he will restore its former military glory, feels with 
satisfaction that there is a soldier at its head. 

Ernest-Louis-Octave Courtot de Cissey, born in Paris 
December 23d, 1810, is now sixty-one years of age. He 
belongs to a noble family of Burgundy ; his grandfather 
was a lieutenant-colonel in the dragoons of Segur, and 
chevalier of Saint-Louis. His father, also a chevalier of 
Saint-Louis, served in the same regiment with the rank 
of captain. 

The first part of the career of General de Cissey was 
passed exclusively in Africa. 

Admitted to Saint-Oyr December 2d, 1830, he left a 
member of the staff in 1832, and made his first campaign 
in Africa from 1836 to 1838. Eemarkable from the first 
for his intrepidity and presence of mind, he received his 
first citation in the order of the army after the two expe- 
ditions of Constantine. Captain on the 27th February, 1839, 
serving in turn as aide-de-camp the Generals Dejean, Eu- 
migny, and Tarle, he continued" to take part in different 
expeditions, and his name is continually to be found in 
the reports of the Governor-General and in the order of 
the day of the army. 

On the 28th of May, 1840, particularly, he distinguished 
himself in the expedition of Medeah ; June 5th, at Teg- 
dempt and Mascara ; May 3d, at Milianah, where he had 
a horse killed under him, after having slain with his own 
hand several Arabs. Captain de Cissey became major of 
cavalry July 19th, 1845; lieutenant-colonel June 14th, 
1850 ; colonel May 10th, 1853 ; employed at the head- 
quarters of the staff at Algiers from 1840 to 1850 ; he was 
successively aide-de-camp of General Pelissier, governor 
par interim of Algeria, and then sous-chef of the staff of 
the army of Africa. It was at this time that he married 
in Algiers the daughter of Eear-Admiral Eigodit, cora- 
mandingr the marine. 



GENERAL DE CISSET. 403 

In this second period of ten years passed in Africa, M. 
de Cissey signalized himself by new exploits. He took 
part in the expeditions of 1843, and both at Dellys and at 
Onarezedin charged in the first rank at the head of his 
cavalry. He was also, on the 14tli of Augnst, at the bat- 
tle of Isly, where he was cited by Marshal Bugeaud as one 
of the officers who had behaved themselves most remark- 
ably. In 1850 he took part in one of the first expeditions 
of Kabylie, commanded by Colonel de Lourmel, and dis- 
tinguished himself on May 21st in the combat with the 
Beni-Ymel. 

When the Crimean war broke out, Colonel de Cissey 
was asked for by General Bosquet, as chief of the staff of 
the 2d division of infantry in the army of the East. Gen- 
eral of Brigade March 17th, 1854, after Inkermann, his 
name is found in the order of the day of the army at the 
taking of the redoubts before Sebastopol. 

After leaving the Crimea he returned to Africa, where, 
February 27th, 1856, he was made chief of the staff in the 
southwestern divisions. 

At the creation of^ ministry for Algeria and the colo- 
nies, he was called to the direction of military and mari- 
time affairs. Although, the ministry of Algeria was but 
of short duration. General de Cissey found time to give 
proof of great aptitude iji the direction of affairs, of a pro- 
found knowledge of the different branches of military art, 
of administrative details, and of a remarkable genius for 
organization. The remembrance of this direction of a 
few months has not been one of the least titles of the 
General to his appointment as Minister of War. 

In 1869, General de Cissey commanded the 1st division 
of infantry at the camp of Chalons, and in 1870 he was 
Inspector-General of the Military Schools. 

When war was declared against Prussia, the General 
was at Eennes, at the head of the 16th military division. 



404 THE PARIS COMMUKE. 

It was expected that he would be placed at the head of 
the staff of the Army of the Rhine, his ' rare military tal- 
ents designing him for this difficult post ; but he received 
the command of a division in the 4th corps of General 
Ladmirault, and assisted at Borny, at Resonville, and at 
the bloody battle of Saint-Privat. The 16th of August, 
he succeeded in completely breaking the left wing of the 
Prussians ; at Saint-Privat he had two horses killed under 
him. 

On the 22d of October, when Marshal Bazaine an- 
nounced to the generals under his command his intention 
to capitulate. General de Cissey proposed energetically that 
the army should attempt to force a passage through the 
Prussian lines. His plan consisted in reuniting hastily 
all the resources of which the city and the army still dis- 
posed, to give to each soldier one hundred and eighty car- 
tridges and four days' provisions, to requisition in the city 
and its surroundings all available horses, to harness them 
to the guns, and to fall with a supreme and energetic effort 
upon the investing army. 

This plan was not adopted, and the French army 
marched out from Metz as prisoners. 

General de Cissey was sent to Hombourg. To the patri- 
otic grief which filled his soul, another affliction was soon 
added. Madame de Cissey was dying at Eennes, of a long 
and painful malady which neither the aid of science nor 
the tender care of her mother had been able to alleviate. 

The General hoped that Prussia would at least allow 
him the liberty of shutting the eyes of her who had been 
the loving companion of his rude soldier's life, but this 
satisfaction was refused him, and he was not able to re- 
turn to Eennes until after the signature of the peace pre- 
liminaries. 

His name was j)ersistently called upon at Versailles for 



SERVICES OF GENERAL DE CISSEY, 405 

some time before he could tear himself away from the 
tomb so prematurely opened. 

Charged with the command of the 2d army corps under 
Paris, the active part he took in the operations of the 
siege is already known, and also how much his care in re- 
establishing discipline, his wise measures and his energy, 
hastened the end of that painful and redoubtable enter- 
prise. His campaign, opened at the forts of Issy and 
Vanves, whose capture was owing to him, ended at his en- 
trance into the Luxembourg, where his sudden apparition 
surprised the insurrection preparing the conflagration of 
all the monuments as well as private houses of the left 
bank. 

The Faubourg Saint Germain owes to him its preser- 
vation. 

The General de Cissey, who counts no less than forty 
years of service, thirteen citations in the order of the 
day — who has been successively in Africa, the Crimea, at 
Metz and under Paris — has had the rare good fortune 
never to receive a single wound. Chevalier of the Legion 
d'Honneur in 1868, he has been made recently grand- 
croix, April 20th, 1871. He is besides decorated with the 
orders of Medjidie, of the Bath, and with the medal of 
military valor of Sardinia. 

The present Minister of War is of middle height, and 
has a fine military deportment. On his face, with grave 
and regular features, firmness and loyalty are easily read. 

The General talks but little ; but when a service is to be 
rendered, he is seen to act. He has an upright soul, work- 
ing always for good. At the same time a man of action and 
a studious man, his great integrity makes him anxious to 
render an account of everything for himself; thus in his 
different commands he was oftener to be found in the 
neighborhood of the trenches than at his headquarters. 

Public opinion has greatly applauded his elevation to 



406 THE PARIS COMMUlSrE. 

the Ministry of War, believing with reason that with the 
portfolio in such able hands, nothing will be neglected for 
the reorganization of the noble army of France. 

On the right bank of the Seine the military operations, 
which had been interrupted by the approach of night, 
were recommenced with vigor on the morning of the 25th, 
and the Hotel de Ville was taken by an ingenious combi- 
nation. While it was attacked on one side by the Eue de 
Eivoli, and watched from the left bank by General de 
Cissey, the column which marched along the boulevards to 
the Porte Saint-Martin had been divided, and a strong 
body had gained by a rapid turning movement the Place 
des Vosges, penetrated into the Eue Saint- Antoine in the 
rear of the Hotel de Ville, and thus gained possession of 
the building, The Commune had already abandoned the 
place, and taken refuge in the Mairie of the 11th Arron- 
dissement, leaving behind only a heap of blackened ruins. 

Nevertheless, the moral effect was considerable. Three- 
fourths of Paris belonged henceforth to the regular army. 
Montmartre and the Hotel de Yille were in the hands of 
the troops, and from that time the Communal insurrection 
could be considered as vanquished. All hope of success, 
if the insurgents had ever entertained any, had entirely 
vanished. There remained still facing the troops nothing 
but a riot — formidable, no doubt, but without any chance 
of an offensive return. The Federals, notwithstanding 
the strong positions they occupied, were defending an ab- 
solutely desperate cause, which good sense and patriotism 
should have advised them to renounce. 

The tricolored flag floated above nearly all the monu- 
ments in the city, replacing the drapeau rouge. From the 
Chdtelet Theatre to the Hotel de Ville the Communists 
had left a smoking trail. The houses were nearly all 
badly injured, and many entirely consumed. The Hotel 
de Ville presented a most painful spectacle, its destruction 



THE MAZAS .P RI S IST E E S. 407 

being more complete than that of any other building. As 
a ruin, however, the beautiful but defaced remnants, still 
standing, present an unusually touching and imposing 
appearance. 

Immediately after the capture of the Hotel de Ville, the 
army of reserve, under General Vinoy, advanced upon the 
Place de la Bastille. 

Early in the morning the division Bruat, charged with 
turning by the east the Faubourgs Saint-Antoine and 
Belleville, had taken possession of the Jardin des Plantes 
and the Orleans Eailway Station. 

They then attacked vigorously the bridge of Austerlitz, 
supported on the left bank by the brigade Derroja, and on 
the right by the brigade De la Mariouse, both belonging 
to the division Faron ; also on the Seine by the flotilla of 
gunboats recently organized. 

The defences of the bridge were formidable ; but towards 
four in the afternoon the position was carried. This suc- 
cess hastened the fall of the Lyons Eailway Station, the 
Mazas prison, and the viaduct of the Vincennes Eailway. 

In the Mazas prison, early on the morning of the 25th, 
a bomb had fallen in the 2d division, shortly followed by 
another, which had caused considerable injury. The 
keepers were seized with terror ; and causing the prisoners 
to leave their cells, they conducted them into the patrol 
path between the outer and inner walls. At seven o'clock 
a superior officer of the Federals arrived, and ordered the 
prisoners — five hundred in number — to be set at liberty. 
Only five ecclesiastics remained among this number. 

Hardly outside the prison, they all found themselves 
surrounded by barricades, where the insurgents endea- 
vored to force them to take part in the struggle. Most 
of them refused and were shot, while others succeeded in 
escaping from the midst -of such terrible perils. 

One of the prisoners, M. Bacon, foreseeing the fate 



408 THE PARIS COMMUNE. 

reserved for those to whom Hberty was given in such a 
moment, remained in the prison, where one of the keep- 
ers, a compatriot, protected him. 

On the morning after the departure of the prisoners, the 
Citizen Gareau, director of Mazas, came to inform the 
keepers that, by order of the Commune, the prison was to 
to be set on fire, and that all the administration must im- 
mediately withdraw. 

M. Bacon then learned that the evening before the 
keeper Collin had buried in the garden the barrels of 
powder which had been placed in the sewers of the prison. 
By his advice the brigadier keeper was prevailed on to 
close the gates to prevent the director from leaving tlie 
building, and to await events, confident as they were that 
the prison could not be blown up. 

The Director Gareau was, in fact, kept as hostage, and 
notwithstanding the incessant shots directed by the in- 
surgents from without, through the crenelated openings 
in the walls, the place was held until nine in the morning, 
when the 35th of the line, which had crossed the Seine at 
Bercy, arrived and took possession of the prison. 

The Director Gareau, creature of the Commune, was 
placed in a cell by order of the commandant, and all the 
buildings were occupied by the troops. 

In the Eue de Bercy the troops had met with a most 
obstinate resistance, but had conquered here as elsewhere, 
and had then marched to the relief of Mazas. It was in 
the Eue de Bercy that Vincent, delegate to the Committee 
of the Eue d'Aligre, had been arrested. Vincent had for- 
merly been concierge in the Hotel de la Dordogne, situ- 
ated in the Eue de Bercy. Having been dismissed by the 
proprietor, M. Conderc, he resolved to be revenged. 

On Thursday morning M. Conderc was standing in the 
midst of a group in the Avenue Millaud, when a ball 
whistled by, and struck a National Guard a few feet off 



VIKCENT'S KEVENGE. 409 

Vincent, who commanded the barricades, denounced M. 
Conderc to a commissary of the Commune, who instantly 
arrested the unhappy man accused of haying fired upon 
the Federals. M. Cassie was also arrested. 

They were both immediately conducted to the guards 
house of the Marche Noir, and about to be shot, when a 
spectator obtained a delay of the execution, and hasten- 
ing to the Committee of the Kue d'Aligre, affirmed the 
innocence of the prisoners, and demanded an order for 
their release. 

He was answered that "moments were precious, the 
situation grave, and that they had no time to occupy 
themselves with such an affair." 

By force of persistence, however, he finally obtained an 
order for the release of the two prisoners. 

Vincent did not consider himself beaten. He remained 
at the barricade of the Eue de Bercy, and, aided by his 
wife, excited the insurgents, distributed cartridges, and 
fired himself upon the troops from behind the barricade. 

When the barricade was carried, he succeeded in mak- 
ing his escape, ran to his home, dressed himself in civilian's 
clothes, and descending into the street walked straight up 
to an ofiicer of the line and denounced M. Conderc as hav- 
ing fought until the last moment. 

The officer imifiediately ordered the arrest of M. Con- 
derc, and that of a poor young man about thirty-four 
years of age, beside whom an insurgent in escaping had 
thrown his gun, still hot from the last discharge. The 
wretched man was shot without being able to prove his 
innocence. 

As for M. Conderc, he was about to sufier the same fate, 
when his wife, throwing herself at the feet of the officer, 
related the scene which had taken place that morning. 

Vincent was instantly apprehended; a perquisition made 
at his abode proved his identity as delegate and combatant. 
18 



410 THE PAEIS COMMUKE. 

He was led immediately to the Rue de Bercy, in the court 
of the municipal depot of paying stones, and shot forth- 
with. 

Before his execution he boasted of having caused thirty 
refractory National Guards to be shot, and of having him- 
self drowned the agent Vincentini in the previous month 
of March. 

While the Divisions Faron and Bruat were attacking 
the Austerlitz Bridge, the Division Verge (3d of the army 
of reserve) advanced by the Eues Saint- Paul, Charles V., 
De la Cerisaie, and proceeding through the houses of the 
Eue Saint Antoine, carried the barricade of the Rue Cas- 
tex and debouched on the Place de la Bastille. There 
they encountered a most violent resistance, rendered still 
more serious by the conflagration of the Grenier d'Abon- 
dance and of the houses situated around the Place. 

The following concise document was afterwards found 
in one of the mairies of Paris : 

" Republique Feak^aise. 
"Liberty, Equality, Fraternity. 

"VrLM! DB PaEIS, 

" MAmrE or the XI Akkondissembnt. 

*' Iliave set fire to tlie Grenier d'Aiondancc. 
" Artillery magnificent. 
" Resistance good. 

«0. Uleic, 

"Chief of the 13th Legion. 
"Mat 25, 1871." 

Beside this document we may place another of equal 
chronological interest. It is the last despatch addressed 
to the Citizen Delescluze by his colleague Ferre, of the 
Prefecture of Police : 



PARIS A HUGE CAMP. 411 

" Paeis, May 25, 1871—9.30 a.m. 

" Secretary- General of War : 

"A man belonging to the 1st regiment of Federals 
informs me that since four o'clock this morning Mont- 
martre is ours no longer. I have seen the Place de la 
Bastille well defended, but the Versaillese are in the 
church of the Rue Saint-Antoine, and are doing their 
utmost to take the Place de la Bastille. I saw personally 
four shells fall in the Eue de la Eoquette, one of which 
entered No. 49 of said street. If Montmartre is still ours, 
they must be ordered to regulate their aim." 

Montmartre had been taken at twelve on Tuesday, and 
there was nothing to rectify. 

The troops engaged in the old boulevards had fought 
throughout the day in the quarters of Saint-Denis, Saint- 
Martin, the Boulevard Sebastopol, and the Rambuteau 
quarter. 

The army had gained possession of the Conservatoire 
des Arts-et-Metiers, where several 'pieces of artillery were 
established, and fired on the boulevards. 

During the day the city was transformed into an im- 
mense camp. The Eue de Grammont was filled with 
artillery ; the Theatre of the Opera-Comique was turned 
into an ambulance, and was surrounded by immense ma- 
terial of war. The streets were everywhere filled with 
soldiers, and, wherever the cessation of the battle would 
allow, with civilians looking eagerly for the traces of the 
struggle. Every few moments laige crowds would gather 
to see the convoys of prisoners, sometimes amounting to 
several hundred, which were led off to Versailles. Many 
of these were women. Persons caught setting fire to the 
houses were generally taken to the guard-houses, and the 
proofs of their guilt being established, they were shot forth- 
with. In many cases, however, the enraged population took 



412 THE PARIS COMMUNE. 

the punishment of such criminals into their hands and tore 
them almost to pieces in their fury. Too much cannot be 
said in praise of the demeanor of the soldiers, who showed 
throughout extraordinary control over passions which the 
insurgents had certainly done eyerything to excite. A 
soldier falling a prisoner into the hands of the insurgents 
could expect no mercy. Several were burned to death ; 
among others, M. de Segoyer, commandant of the 26th 
battalion of chasseurs a fied, was made prisoner by the 
insurgents at the Place de la Bastille, and having been 
covered with petroleum was burned alive. 

The Federals now held but one strong position, but it 
was more important than any that had yet been wrested 
from them. This was the Chateau d'Eau, protected by 
the Buttes Chaumont, Belleville, and Pere-Lachaise. It 
is true that Chaumont and Belleville were under the fire 
of Montmartre, but that did not prevent the Federal artil- 
lery, installed there, from covering the quarters Saint- 
Denis and Bonne-Nouvelle with shells. 

Seven avenues or boulevards open on the Place du 
Chateau-d'Eau : Eue de Turbigo, Boulevard Saint-Martin, 
Boulevard Magenta, Eue du Faubourg-du-Temple, Boule- 
vard des Amandiers, Boulevard du Prince-Eugene (now 
Boulevard Yoltaire), and Boulevard du Temple. At the 
entrance of each of these streets on the Place, a barricade 
had been constructed. 

General Clinchant advanced by the Boulevards Ma- 
genta, Saint Denis and St. Martin ; General Douay, by the 
Conservatoire des Arts-et-Metiers, the Rues de Turbigo 
and Du Temple ; General Ladmirault by La Chapelle and 
Villette ; and General Vinoy by the Bastille. 

As may be seen, the difierent army corps continued to 
follow their first strategy, the great merit of which was 
its simplicity. Marshal de MacMahon was, doubtless, in- 
spired by the geometrical axiom — a straight line is the 



THE LAST STEOKGHOLD. 413 

shortest distance from one point to another — being sure 
that his soldiers would know how to vanquish eyery ob- 
stacle that rose in their path. 

The troops who had taken possession of the Central Mar- 
ket had advanced during the day through the Eue Turbigo, 
sustaining at almost every step a violent combat, and had 
commenced towards evening, in concert with the troops 
who had taken the line of the boulevards, the attack on 
the Chateau d'Eau. 

The insurgents, established in the vast buildings of the 
Magasins-Reunis and the barracks of the Prince Eugene, 
defended with all the energy of despair the barricade which 
covered their stronghold in the 11th Arrondissement, and 
the access toBelleville and P6re Lachaise. JSTevertheless, 
the troops had succeeded in reaching the Buttes Chaumont 
by the u|)per quarters of La Villette, and had immediately 
proceeded to their investment. 

During the last hours of Thursday the 25th, the line of 
battle extended, in making a large curve, from the Bastille 
to the Buttes Chaumont, passing by the Boulevards Beau- 
marchais, Des Filles-du-Calvaire, and Du Temple, by the 
Chateau-d'Eau, the Rue de la Douane, the Entrepdt and 
the canal, ending in turning round the hospital of Saint- 
Louis at the foot of the Buttes. 

The army of France, since the evening of the 21st of 
May, the date at which it entered Paris, had accomplished 
an enormous task, marching in advance without interrup- 
tion, surmounting valiantly every obstacle, and marking 
each day by important successes. 

Paris, emerging from the terrified stupor into which it 
had been plunged by the reign of the Commune, regained 
the consciousness of its existence. The insurrection was 
evidently vanquished, and yet three days were still occu- 
pied by violent combats before the bloody struggle could 
be entirely terminated. During Friday, Saturday and 



414 THE PAEIS COMMUJSTE. 

Sunday, the Federals never ceased to oppose to the inde- 
fatigable ardor of the soldiers the most furious zeal, "which 
was sustained until the last hour, and which those -will un- 
derstand who haye witnessed the great insurrections in 
France during the last forty years, and who are acquainted 
with the extreme tenacity of the Parisian workman, once he 
has taken a gun and entered into revolt for an idea. How- 
ever false this idea may be, he will defend it with passion, 
without being even willing to reflect upon its worth. 

For the last two months the word Commune had been 
repeatedly dinned into the ears of the Parisian workmen; 
they had adopted it, without examination, as the myste- 
rious Sesame which would open a new era of universal 
happiness, and they could not or would not believe in the 
crumbling of their bright dreams, although everything, 
from moment to moment, announced an irremediable 
defeat. 

Moreover, up to the last moment, the chiefs of the Com- 
mune did everything in their ])ower to delude their adhe- 
rents concerning the gravity of the situation. For this 
they resorted to the most miserable subterfuges. Thus, 
while the fighting was going on at the Chateau-d'Eau, tri- 
colored flags were shown, with cries of victory, to the Na- 
tional Guards assembled in the Mairie of the 11th Arron- 
dissement. These the members of the Commune pre- 
tended to have captured from the army of Versailles, and 
marching in procession to the Place Voltaire, the trophies 
were solemnly burned at the feet of that writer's statue. 
These flags, some of which still bore the imperial eagle, 
had been taken from the store-rooms of the Mairie, where 
they were kept for public festivals. 

On the following day they resorted to another artifice. 
About a thousand soldiers of the line, who. had been im- 
prisoned at La Eoquette since the 18th of March, were 
taken from prison and led to the Mairie of the 20th Ar- 



SUKDAT, MAT 28TH. 415 

rondissement as a detachment of the regular troops which 
had deserted to the cause of the Commune. These sad 
trickeries succeeded but partially, and instead of raising 
the confidence of the National Guards, helped to weaken 
it. 

But the Federals at the same time drew the obstinacy 
of a desperate resistance from the bitter knowledge of 
their utter ruin, and from the perils which everywhere 
surrounded them. In this they were encouraged by a 
number of strangers — refuse of all the nations in Europe 
— of whom the Communal cause had made shameful aux- 
iliaries. These men, convicts and exiles, had nothing to fear, 
because they had nothing to hope. They sought only to 
drag down with them in a common ruin those whose con- 
duct, guilty as it was, could yet find some excuse. 

On his side. Marshal de MacMahon, assured as he was 
of success, did not wish to hazard anything by hastening 
his operations ; and he desired, at the same time, to save 
the hlood of his soldiers by moderating their action. 

Tliese different causes prolonged the struggle until the 
afternoon of Sunday, the 28th, without, however, its being 
interrupted for a moment ; the positions still to be carried 
presenting so many difficulties. 

The defences of the Boulevard Magenta have been al- 
ready described, together with the capture of three out of 
four of its barricades by the regular troops. The fourth, 
which was the key of the position, was situated a few 
yards back of No. 6, of which the insurgents retained pos- 
session, and through which they communicated with the 
Passage du Wauxhall, where they had their reserves, and 
also with the Eue des Marais-Saint-Martin, which con- 
ducts to the barracks, the Eues Magnan, Dieu, and De 
I'Entrepot. 

When the action was about commencing, the insur- 
gents informed the inhabitants of this house of their in- 



416 THE PAEIS COMMUiq^E. 

tentions, and of the necessity under which they might 
find themselves of destroying everything for the execution 
of their plans. The latter decided unanimously that they 
•would remain in the house, notwithstanding the danger, 
aud that they would live for the time together and watch 
for the safety of all. 

On Wednesday morning Citizen Gambon, member of 
the Committee of Public" Safety, arrived at the house, 
after having inspected the defences, and informed the in- 
habitants that the commandant of the barricade had over 
them the right of life and death ; that he would use this 
right according to the necessities of the defence, and 
that their furniture would be sacrificed if it was judged 
useful. 

The Versailles troops, having occupied the Boulevard 
Ornano, opened at long range a quick and well-directed 
artillery fire against the barricade, whose defenders were 
decimated during two days and nights, but whose guns 
never ceased for an instant to reply. 

On the 25th, early in the morning, the troops advanced, 
and continued during several hours to cover with their 
fire the barricade and the insurgents who still defended it. 
The ground around was covered with muskets, grape-shot, 
and pieces of shell. 

Finally, on Friday, the 26th, at noon, the soldiers left 
Saint-Laurent, the Mairie of the 10th Arrondissement, 
and, advancing in single file, gun in hand, along the 
houses of the Rue du Chateau-d'Eau, they concentrated 
in the Grand Cafe Parisien. At the end of a few mo- 
ments they approached the barricade, opening a rapid 
and efiicacious musketry fire on the insurgents. Two 
hours later they carried the position, and hastened to 
plant the tricolor in the centre of the fortification — a sight 
which filled with joy the entire population. 

The brave soldiers then attacked the Place du Chateau- 




DELESCLUZE 
Commune of Pans 
1871. 



DEATH OF DELESCLUZE. 41? 

d'Eau with a courage, animation, and intelligence which 
were admirable ; they entered the houses and fired from 
the windows on the barracks of the Chateau-d'Eau, the 
Magasins Eeunis, and the six barricades of the Place. 

After fifteen hours effort, the barricade yielded before 
the energetic attack of the troops ; the cannon ended by 
opening a breach, and the soldiers rushing on the Barrack 
Prince Eugene and the Magasins Eeunis, carried them at 
the point of the bayonet. 

Most of the houses of the Place du Chateau-d'Eau at- 
test the violence of this rude engagement ; their fronts 
are riddled with bullets and shells, while many are en- 
tirely consumed by fire. 

It was near the barricades of the Chateau-d'Eau that 
the Delegate of War, Citizen Delescluze, faithful to his 
promise, came to seek his death by the side of those whom 
he had encouraged in this horrible revolt. 

Judging the cause lost, Delescluze left, about noon, his 
colleagues, who had taken refuge in the Mairie of the 
11th Arrondissement, and directed himself with the calm, 
appearance of an indifferent pedestrian towards the scene 
of combat, passing through the Boulevard Yoltaire. On 
the way he met several National Guards, soldiers and 
officers, whose hands he silently pressed. As he advanced, 
he was told of the dangers which menaced him in that 
direction from the falling shells. Without any reply to 
this warning he continued to advance, and a few moments 
later he was struck by three balls and mortally wounded. 
He paid with his life the ^Hrop coupaUe" agitation of 
which he had been one of the most ardent promoters. 

The body of Delescluze was found on Friday afternoon 
surrounded by twenty-eight corpses. It was recognized 
by the architect Lenormand. 

Delescluze was in civil dress; black coat and gray 
trousers, with a silk hat and patent-leather boots. By his 

18* 



418 THE PAEIS COMMUNE. 

side lay a cane whicli he had carried for ten years, and 
which first led to his recognition. 

After the discovery of his body he was immediately 
searched. He had with him his nomination as Delegate 
of "War, his passport as member of the Commune, and 
letters from La Cecilia, Lisbonne, and other chiefs of the 
band. 

Among the remaining papers there were several both 
mysterious and interesting : 

" Paeis, May 16, 1871, (Tuesday, T p. m). 

" OiTiZEK Delesclijze *. — A citoyenne who is entirely 
devoted to you, has a most serious communication to 
make you ; only as she wishes to make it to you alone, 
she begs you to keep absolutely secret the reception of 
these few lines, and also to find yourself to-morrow (Wed- 
nesday, 17th) in the Eue Neuve-des-Petits-Champs, at 
No. 48, under the entrance to the Yentadour Baths. You 
must appear to be strolling, and no one will pay you any 
attention ; be there at four o'clock ; you may have to wait 
five or six minutes at the most. A carriage will stop be- 
fore you, and you must enter. 

" Be without fear ; the person who wishes to speak to 
you will be alone. Put a flower of some kind in your left 
button-hole, so that the coachman may distinguish you at 
once. 

" Above all, discretion. E'ot a word of this to those 
surrounding you. 

" Yours with all my heart, 

"jEANIiTE LaCASSIEEE. 

" P. S.— Burn this." 

The second letter is still more interesting, and shows 
with what confidence these people inspired each other : 

" MoNSiEUE Delesclijze : — A vast conspiracy is being 



TWO TnousAJN:© piiisoisrEEs. 419 

organized against you among your colleagues, and even 
among those whom you think your friends. If steel can- 
not act, poison will be employed. Above all, distrust 
Vermorel. 

"A Devoted Feiend." 

Among the other letters were several orders for the 
cervice, whicb prove the desperation of the situation of 
the insurgents. 

The following is a sample : 

" Ministry of "War. 
Cabinet of the Minister. 

"Paeis, MaySl.lS-Jl. 

"Citizen" Delescluze:— Send immediately, artillery- 
men, wagons, and harness for the transport of munitions. 
The ramparts are no longer tenable if I do not receive 
artillerymen. It is impossible for me, with the National 
Guards and free-shooters furnished by the volunteers, to 
perform the service of the artillery. I cannot hold out 
any longer. 

" Colonel Lisbokh"e." 

At the Magasins Eeunis more than two thousand in- 
surgents were taken prisoners. 

In the Eue du Temple, where a barricade had just been 
carried by the troops, a large number of prisoners were also 
taken, and led to the Eue Notre-Dame-de-Nazareth, opposite 
the Cafe Dodar. Among them was a child about fifteen. 

The contest had been violent, and the soldiers were in 
all the exaltation which follows an action so important. 
The prisoners had not capitulated ; they had been taken 
with arms in their hands, and ought to die according to 
the laws of war, especially the law accorded to insurgents. 

The turn of the child arrived. 

He was pushed against the wall to be quickly dis- 
patched. He asked to speak to the captain, who advanced 
and demanded what he wanted. 



420 THE PARIS COMMUNE. 

" I • should like/' said the child, drawing a watch from 
his pocket, " to carry this to the concierge who lives op- 
posite ; he would know to whom to give it." 

The captain, who, even in the fever caused by powder, 
sees but a child in the insurgent, divines the artless sub- 
terfuge of the poor fellow. 

" Well, go ! and hurry yourself ! " he said, roughly. 

The platoon of execution understood also, when, sud- 
denly, running as though for an urgent affair, the child 
re-appeared, placed himself before the soldiers, with his 
back to the wall, and said, " 3Ie voila ! " 

The captain looked at his men, and the men at their 
captain ; everybody was confounded. 

But the captain had his own idea ; he advanced furi- 
ously to the child, and, taking him by the shoulders, gave 
him a violent kick, saying, " Get out of the way, you 
wretched little imp." 

Meanwhile the Generals Vinoy and Douay gained pos- 
session, after a shorter but no less violent attack than 
that of the Chateau-d'Eau, of the Place de la Bastille. 
Here the houses suffered, as everywhere else in Paris, 
as much from the flames spread by petroleum as from 
artillery projectiles. Immense buildings recently con- 
structed at the head of the Eue Saint-Antoine were 
entirely consumed. 

The troops next precipitated themselves into the Fau- 
bourg Saint-Antoine, through which the principal retreat 
of the Federals had been managed, and occupied it in a 
few hours, notwithstanding the formidable defences with 
which the Faubourg was covered as far as the Place du 
Trone. The laboring population of this former birth- 
place of all revolutionary agitations, had associated but 
feebly in the resistance, which was due almost exclusively 
to Federals from other quarters who had taken refuge in 
the old faubourg. 



A FIENDISH PLAJST. 421 

The streets surrounding the Place cle la Bastille were 
all obstructed by barricades, which were successively car- 
ried by the troops. At the corner of the Eues Eampon 
and Valmy, where Canal Saint-Martin opens, a number 
of insurgents were found drowned. 

On the 34th, the Federals had conducted under the 
vaults of the canal to the middle of the Boulevard Richard 
Lenoir, almost opposite the Rues du Chemin-Vert and 
Des Amandiers, several barges which had been moored at 
the quay of the Boulevard Bourdon. One of these was 
filled with barrels of powder and casks of petroleum ; the 
others were filled with inflammable materials, planks, and 
shavings, over which petroleum had been scattered. 

All the gratings and air-openings communicating with 
the canal had been stopped up. 

The barges charged with powder and petroleum had 
been first conducted to the spot where it was intended to 
commit the crime. The boat which was to be used for 
firing the others was taken last. It was set on fire under 
the Place de la Bastille. From there the incendiaries evi- 
dently intended to drag it towards the others ; but the 
smoke occasioned by the fire was so thick that, being una- 
ble to escape through the air-openings, it prevented the 
flames from rising. The matter all burned away without 
flaming, which rendered the smoke denser and denser, and 
which ended by smothering the Federals — victims to the 
very act which was intended to bring so much misery and 
ruin upon others. 

It is only too evident that the charming revolutionaries 
of the Commune had the intention of destroying all the 
public monuments of Paris. Time only failed them. 

On the Place du Trone works had been commenced to 
overthrow the stone columns which have decorated this 
place since 1788, and which the devastators of '93 had 
subsequently respected. 



422 THE PAEIS COMMUNE. 

Ten or twelve bandits had first mounted on the pedestal 
of the column which supports the statue of Philip- Augus- 
tus, had broken with hammers the figures with which the 
pedestal was ornamented, and then began to cut away a 
portion of the base of the monument, thinking probably 
that it would fall by its own weight. 

But this mode of proceeding appearing either too long 
or too dangerous, they soon renounced it and had recourse 
to mining, after having cut an opening of ten centimetres 
in one side. 

They then dug on the opposite side several holes, which 
were to receive enormous charges of powder, and had 
almost reached the required depth, when the inhabitants 
of the neighborhood, encouraged by the successes of the 
regular troops, who had already occupied a portion of 
Paris, informed these wretches that the fall of a column 
could do their cause no good, and finally succeeded in 
driving them away. 

The Place du Trdne being occupied by the soldiers of 
the line, a portion remained to watch the elements of dis- 
order which might still exist in the upper streets of the 
Faubourg between the Place and Bercy, while by the 
remainder the insurgents were thrown back on Charonne 
and Menilmontant. 

By an almost simultaneous movement, the forces which 
had so intrepidly gained the position of the Chateau-d'Eau, 
having assured its possession, and that of the boulevards, 
as far as the Bastille, divided into two columns. One 
mounted the Boulevards Voltaire and Eichard-Lenoir, en- 
veloping the prison of La Eoquette, of which the troops 
gained possession on Saturday morning, and approaching 
at the same time the cemetery of Pere-Lachaise ; the other 
column, by the Rue de la Douane and the borders of the 
canal, approached the Buttes Chaumont to complete their 
investment. 



FEDERAL PRISONEES. 423 

The circle had constantly and regularly narrowed ; it 
compressed, indeed it strangled, this prodigious insurrec- 
tion, thrown back in a definitive manner on to its last in- 
trenchments. 

In reality, it no longer existed ; there remained only a 
few desperate bands, whose energy, however, never failed 
for a moment as long as there was a gun left to be fired. 

During this supreme effort, Paris, almost entirely re- 
stored to law and order, was traversed by long files of 
prisoners, wearing on their faces an expression of fierce 
energy, and in many cases pride of their cause even in 
disaster ; they marched bareheaded between two lines of 
cavalry, who rode gun in hand. They were all divested 
of their uniform of the National Guard, and were dressed 
in blouses, working-jackets, or coats. 

Among the prisoners were a large number of women, 
who had taken an active part in the struggle, engaging, 
if possible, with even more fury than the men. Many had 
defended alone the barricades, firing resolutely upon the 
troops, fighting with a kind of pitiless rage, and, when they 
found themselves vanquished, throwing themselves reck- 
lessly upon the bayonets. 

Many had worked actively in the construction of barri- 
cades, and a large number had aided in igniting the con- 
flagrations, carrying everywhere, with inconceivable eager- 
ness, explosive materials, petroleum, and incendiary bombs. 
With dishevelled hair, garments in disorder, they retained, 
amidst the soldiers who conducted them, a bearing of 
furious passion, venting itself occasionally by violent im- 
precations and wild cries. 

Meanwhile, in the Prison de la Eoquette, more victims 
were added to the insatiable rage of the Commune. On 
Thursday but one execution took place, that of the banker 
Jecker, who was called from his cell in the morning, and 
who has never been heard of since. 



424 THE PARIS COMMUNE. 

On Friday, 26th, the noise of the battle, which ap- 
proached the quarter of La Eoquette, and the news which 
reached them from without, gave the prisoners a little 
hope, although all had resolutely offered the sacrifice of 
their lives, and prepared themselves for death in a Chris- 
tian manner, the laity being sustained and encouraged by 
the clergy. 

On account of the bad weather, the daily recreation had 
been taken in the hall on which the cells opened, and had 
been extended in the afternoon far beyond the usual hour. 
It was about fiTe o'clock, when, in the midst of the recre- 
ation, one of the keepers appeared, a list in hand, and the 
sinister call began. Fifteen prisoners, among whom were 
ten members of the clergy and five of the laity, were called, 
ranged in order, counted, and led off just as they were 
found, many of them bareheaded. They were led out of 
the prison, and probably taken to Pere-Lachaise, or be- 
hind some barricades, where they were shot. Not one has 
reappeared. 

Among the victims were the Pere Olivaint, superior of 
the Jesuits of the Eue de Sevres, and former pupil of the 
Ecole Normale. At La Roquette he met one of his school 
companions, a hostage like himself, whom he had not seen 
for thirty-four years. 

Another prisoner was a young seminarist of Saint-Sul- 
pice, about twenty years of age, named Seigneret, son of 
the inspector of the Academy of the Jura. His truly 
angelic face, and his extreme youth, had moved all his 
companions of captivity, and no one believed that he could 
be executed. His only crime was having demanded a 
passport at the Prefecture of Police in order to return to 
his family. Immediately arrested by the insurgents, he 
was first thrown into the Conciergerie, transferred to 
Mazas, and then to La Eoquette, where he fell a victim 
to the common fate. 



CO]SrVICTS LIBERATED. 425 

" My poor father ! my poor parents ! " said he to one of 
his companions in misfortune ; " what despair for them ! 
However, I pay for the position of my father, happy if 
my death can save a fellow-creature, and give some re- 
morse to my executioners." 

All the condemned believed that their last hour had 
come, and that their slow agony would that evening be 
ended. The last farewells were exchanged and the last 
prayers said, and each one took the necessary dispositions 
to send to their parents and friends the sad relics or last 
wishes which they left behind them. 

IsTevertheless the evening, the night passed without any 
new incident, in the midst of a horrible expectation, and 
an anxiety a thousand times more cruel than death itself. 
In the morning the noise of the firing approached sensibly 
the neighborhood of the prison and the Mairie of the 11th 
Arrondissement, where the last remnants of the Com- 
mune were sitting. 

The prisoners had mostly to fear the final crisis ; the 
defeat of the insurrection might be the signal for a general 
massacre. The bandits who surrounded and occupied the 
prison were not likely to abandon their prey without at- 
tempting to avenge themselves by butchering the re- 
mainder of the hostages. This design they attempted, in 
fact, to execute in the afternoon after the capture of the 
Mairie, when they beat a retreat in the direction of Pere- 
Lachaise. 

Ferre, Delegate of General Safety and member of the 
Commune, made his appearance at the prison, and calling 
for all the criminals condemned to the galleys who were 
detained in the prison until the time of their transporta- 
tion arrived, restored them at once to liberty. Arms and 
ammunition were given to these bandits, who imme- 
diately commenced a massacre of a large number of 
prisoners, among whom were sixty-eight gendarmes. 



436 THE PAEIS COMMUNE. 

Eive gendarmes, who were then in the infirmary, alone 
escaped. 

The honorable resistance of most of the keepers, who, 
aided by the prisoners themselves, barricaded the doors 
and halls, saved the lives of the hostages. 

Towards four o'clock the horde thns held in check had 
a panic, and took to flight, crying that the Versailles 
troops were upon them. In an instant the prison was 
freed from its assailants, and the prisoners of every cate- 
gory were at liberty to flee or to await the arrival of the 
troops, which was near at hand. 

Many of the hostages, fearing the return of some of 
these madmen, drunk with wine and blood, or the execu- 
tion of the horrible menaces of fire which had been made 
for several days, resolved to make their escape and gain 
the outposts of the army of Versailles. 

Some of them had the good fortune to succeed, while 
others, not knowing the quarter, betrayed rather than pro- 
tected by incomplete disguises,, or failing in coolness and 
presence of mind, were massacred in the neighborhood of 
the prison by rioters who were prowling with arms around 
La Eoquette, and who were truly fiendish in their chasing 
of priests. 

Four of the unhappy clergy perished thus at the corner 
of the prison Des Jeunes-Detenus; their bodies, mutilated 
in the most horrible manner, and hardly conserving the 
human form, were thrust on the spot into the same hole, 
where they remained until Sunday morning. 

Among them, the only one who could be identified was 
the cure of Bonne-Nouvelle, whose church, like that of 
Notre-Dame-des-Victoires, was one of the most devastated. 
Most of the objects employed in the exercise of divine 
service had been carried off or destroyed. 

A few days after the arrest of the unfortunate M. Be- 
court, curate of Bonne-lSTouvelle, a band of Federals ar- 



THE POSITION OK FRIDAY, 26Tn MAT. 427 

rived at his house with several furniture wagons which 
they had requisitioned, and began to load them with 
the furniture of the prisoner. At the same time, they 
searched the domestic, and took from him a sum of 120 
francs. 

The indignant neighbors succeeded in obliging the rob- 
bers to release a portion of the furniture, but nothing 
would induce them to surrender the money, which they 
regarded as only their rightful profit. 

On Friday, the 26th, the following announcement was 
made by the Minister of War in the National Assembly : 

"Messieues: — The situation in Paris becomes better 
and better. The troops meet with an energetic resistance, 
but their courage and devotedness exceed the opposition 
they encounter. They advance slowly but surely. We 
are masters of all that portion of Paris situated on the 
left bank. On the right bank, our attack has extended to 
the Place de la Bastille, which is now in the possession of 
the army. 

" General Vinoy is manoeuvring at this moment for the 
capture of the Barri^re du Trone. Nearly all tlie boule- 
vards are in the power of the army. The Place du 
Chateau-d'Eau, the barracks of the Prince Eugene, the 
Magasins-Eeunis — all that portion of Paris is in our hands. 

"All the forts on the left bank, Bicetre and Ivry in- 
cluded, are in our power. Bic6tre and Ivry Avere carried 
by the cavalry. 

" There remain at this hour only the Buttes Chaumont, 
and the portion which extends on that side — that is, Belle- 
ville, La Villette, La Chapelle. But the troops advance 
methodically and regularly on these last points. To-mor- 
row, I hope, they will be able to conquer this last citadel 
of the insurrection, and the great satisfaction will be 
given to the Government of announcing to the Assembly, 



438 THE PAEIS COMMUNE. 

that the army, thanks to the devotedness of its soldiers 
and the ability of its chiefs, has become completely mis- 
tress of Paris." 

On the same day, the Minister of Foreign Affairs sent 
by telegram the following note to the diplomatic repre- 
sentatives of France in foreign countries : 

" VEBSAII.I.ES, May 2Cth. 

'• SiE : — The abominable work of the odious criminals 
who are now perishing under the heroic efforts of our 
army, cannot be confounded with a political act. It con- 
stitutes a series of crimes, proyided for and punished by 
the laws of every civilized country. Murder, robbery and 
incendiarism, systematically ordered, and prepared with 
an infernal skill, cannot permit to the persons engaged in 
them any other refuge than that of expiation by the law. 

" No nation can cover them with immunity, and their 
presence on the soil of any would be a shame and a peril. 
If, therefore, you learn that any individual, compromised 
in the crimes at Paris, has crossed the frontier of the 
country to which you are accredited, I request you at once 
to solicit from the local authorities his immediate arrest, 
and to inform me of what you have done, in order that I 
may apply for his extradition. 

"Keceive, etc., Jules Favee." 

The French Government immediately learned, in an-. 
swer, tliat the Belgian Cabinet would not consider as po- 
litical refugees any of the men concerned in the crimes 
of Paris, but would deliver them up at once; while the 
Spanish Consul at Marseilles announced that he would 
permit all vessels of his country in that port to be searched, 
and that the authorities of Madrid had decided that all 
French criminals who crossed the frontier would be seized 
and given up. 



VICTOR HUGO'S PROTEST. 429 

M. Victor Hugo, who had been called to Belgium by a 
recent bereavement, where he prudently remained during 
the reign of the Commune, addressed the following letter 
to the editor of the Independence Beige of Brussels, ex- 
pressing his disapproval of the conduct of the Belgian 
Government : 

" Beussels, May 2Gth, 1871. 

" SiE : — I protest against the declaration of the Belgian 
Government relative to the vanquished of Paris. 

" Whatever may be said or done, these vanquished are 
political men. 

" I was not with them. 

"I accept the principle of the Commune. I do not ac- 
cept the men. 

" I have protested against their acts : law of hostages, 
reprisals, arbitrary arrests, violation of liberties, suppres- 
sion of newspapers, spoliations, confiscations, demolitions, 
destruction of the Column, attacks on the law, attacks on 
the people. 

" Their violences have rendered me indignant, as to-day 
the violence of the opposite party will do the same. 

" The destruction of the Column is an act of treason 
against the nation. The destruction of the Louvre would 
have been a crime — treason against civilization. 

" But savage acts, done in ignorance, are not villainous 
acts. Madness is a disease, not an offence. Ignorance is 
not the crime of the ignorant. 

"The Column destroyed was a sad hour for France. 
The Louvre destroyed would have been for all people an 
eternal mourning. 

"But the Column will be raised, and the Louvre is 
saved. 

"To-day, Paris is retaken. The Assembly has van- 
quished the Commune. Who made the 18th of March ? 



430 THE PARIS COMMUNE. 

Which is the true culprit, the Assembly or the Commune ? 
History will tell, 

'• The burning of Paris was a monstrous act ; but are 
there not two incendiaries? Let us wait before judging. 

" I never understood Billioray, and Rigault astonished 
me to indignation ; but to shoot Billioray is a crime — to 
shoot Eigault is a crime. 

" Those of the Commune, Johannard and La Cecilia, 
who cause a child of fifteen to be shot, are criminals; 
those of the Assemblj^, who cause Jules Valles, Bosquet, 
Parisel, Amouroux, Lefrangais, Brunet and Dombrowsld 
to be shot, are criminals. 

'*' Don't let us pour forth our indignation upon one side 
only. Here the crime is as much in the Assembly as in 
the Commune, and the crime is evident. 

'' First, for all civilized men, the punishment of death is 
abominable ; secondly, execution without judgment is in- 
famous. One is no longer a part of the law, the other 
never has been. 

''Judge first, then condemn, then execute. I could 
blame, but I could not dishonor. 

" You are under the law. 

" If you kill without judgment, you assassinate. 

" I return to the Belgian Government. 

" It does wrong to refuse an asylum. 

" The law permits this refusal, the right forbids it. 

" I, who write you these lines, have a maxim : Pro jure 
contra legem. 

" The asylum is an ancient right. 

" It is the sacred right of the unhappy. 

'' In the middle ages the Church accorded this asylum 
even to parricides. 

" As for me, I declare that : 

'' This asylum, which the Belgian Government refuses 
to the vanquished, I ofier. 



UUGO'S VAIN" BOASTING. 431 

" Where ? 

" In Belgium. 

" I do Belgium that honor. 

" I offer an asylum in Brussels. 

" I offer an asylum, Place des Barricades, Ko. 4. 

" If a vanquished of Paris ; if a man of the reunion 
called Commune, wliich was very little elected by Paris, 
and which, for my part, I never approved — if one of these 
men, were lie my personal enemy, above all if lie is my 
personal enemy, knocks at my door, I open. He is in my 
liouse. He is inviolable. 

" Am I, perhaps, a stranger in Belgium ? I think not. 
I feel myself the brother of all men and the guest of all 
people. 

" In any case, a fugitive of the Commune in my liouse 
will be a vanquished at the home of a proscribed man ; 
the vanquished of to-day with the proscribed of yesterday. 

" I do not hesitate to say, two venerable things. 

" One weakness protecting another. 

" If a man is beyond the pale of the law, let him enter 
my house. I defy any one to tear him away. 

" I am speaking of political men. 

" If any one comes to my house to take a fugitive of the 
Commune, they will take me also. If he is given up, I 
will follow him. I will share his seat. And for the de- 
fence of right, by the side of the man of the Commune, 
vanquished by the Assembly of Versailles, will be seen the 
man of the Eepublic, proscribed by Bonaparte. 

" I will do my duty. Above aU, principles. ' 

" One word more. 

" What can certainly be affirmed is, that England will 
not deliver up the refugees of the Commune, 
" Why place Belgium below England ? 
" The glory of Belgium is to be an asylum. Do not 
take from her that glory. 



432 THE PARIS COMMUJSTE. 

" In defending France, I defend Belgium. 

" The Belgian Government will be against me, but the 
Belgian people will be with me. 

" In any case, I will have my conscience. 

" Keceive, sir, the assurance of my distinguished senti- 
ments, Victor Hugo." 

Although M. Victor Hugo was not mistaken in the first 
portion of his declaration that "the Belgian Government 
will be against me, but the Belgian people v/ill be with 
me," he certainly was in the latter. 

The night following the publication of his letter, a mob 
gathered in front of his house and greeted him with any- 
thing but friendly demonstrations. He was first wakened 
by a ring at the door-bell, which, coming at about two in 
the morning, rather surprised him. Putting his head out 
of the window to ask who was there, he was answered, 
" C'est DomlrowsM.^' Eather doubting the truth of this 
assertion, as Dombrowski had been reported killed, he was 
hesitating what to do, when a large stone crashed through 
;he window directly above his head, quickly followed by a 
shower of others. At the same time, shouts were raised 
of "A mort ! a mort !" Others facetiously informed him 
that the Commune had come to ask an asylum. Many 
called "A das Jean Valjean ! " showing at least an ac- 
quaintance with his works. EjEforts were made to break 
open the door, which, happily for the " friend of the peo- 
ple," resisted these attempts. ISTot a window-pane in the 
front of the house remained intact, the front rooms were 
uninhabitable, and but for the timely break of day, M. 
Hugo might not now be alive to tell the tale. 

On the following day, Victor Hugo having been invited 
by the Belgian Government to leave the country, and hav- 
ing refused, an order was issued for his ejection. It was 
to be supposed that this great genius, outraged by the ter- 



ENGLISH AND BELGIAN AID. 433 

rible misfortunes which had been accumulated upon his 
country by the men of the Commune, would have flashed 
forth a superb denunciation, such as forms the power and 
glory of a poet ; but no ! Paris destroyed, the conflagration 
spreading with ardent flames from street to street, the 
archbishop assassinated in a cowardly manner, could not 
console the author of Les CMtime7its for the death of 
Billioray, and of Eigault, the assassin of Chaudey. 

The poet saw with an indifferent eye both victims and 
ruins, and kept all his pity for the assassins and incen- 
diaries. 

Happily, the Belgian Government had different views 
respecting tliem, and cordially responded to the appeal of 
France. 

At the very moment in which M. Hugo was writing in 
exculpation of the odious Commune, another conflagra- 
tion had been ignited, and the flames rose high to heaven 
as witnesses against such criminals. This fire was at the 
bonding warehouses of La Yillette and the magazines of 
M. Trotrot, containing immense supplies of coal, Avood, 
wine, provisions, and other articles of merchandise. Her 
twenty millions worth of property had been wantonly de- 
stroyed, no possibility existing of saving the smallest por- 
tion. 

Offers were made by both the English and Belgian 
Governments to send their firemen, in order to aid in ex- 
tinguishing the conflagration in Paris. These offers were 
thankfully accepted, and were announced to the ]!S"ational 
Assembly by General Le F16 ("War) in the following man- 
ner : 

" The losses of our troops are infinitely less consider- 
able than might have been feared, and the wounded are 
most carefully attended to in the various hospitals. Bodies 
of firemen have hurried in from every part of France {hear, 
19 



434 THE PARIS COMMUNE. 

hear), and the Lord Mayor of London has asked us for 
permission to send a number of those belonging to the 
English capital to co-operate in the task of saving Paris. 
{Loud applause.) The French Government at once re- 
plied that it accepted that assistance, and at the present 
moment a body of the London firemen are, with their 
apparatus, on the way to Paris. {Eeneived marTcs of ap- 
p)rol)ation.) Belgium, likewise, was unwilling to remain' 
behindhand, and tlie Government of that country has 
made us the same offers of aid. The steam fire-engines 
of Antwerp have also left for France." {Long continued 
cheers.) 

The burning of the docks of La V"illette was the signal 
for another defeat of the insurgents. 

In fact, during this same day. General Ladmirault ex- 
ecuted at La Villette a movement similar to that of Gen- 
eral Vinoy on Charonne. The two army corps took their 
positions simultaneously in the rear of Pere-Lachaise, and 
in the rear of the Buttes Chaumont. 

The troops advanced on the Place de la Rotonde, which 
is the central position of La Villette by the Eue de La- 
fayette and the Boulevard de la Chapelle. 

In the Rue de Lafayette they encountered a vigorous 
resistance at the Strasbourg Railway Station and in the 
Boulevard de la Chapelle, at the barricades of the Rue 
d'Aubervilliers. 

These positions being taken, the barricades were at- 
tacked vigorously, both in front and flank, and were un- 
able to hold out, although their principal position, the 
Douane-Centrale, was a veritable bastion. It was then 
that the docks were set on fire. 

The army was then allowed a few hours repose before 
making a supreme effort, which was to crush entirely the 
insurrection. \ 



CHAPTER XIII. 

The line of battle— Boulevard Kichard Lenoir— Capture of the Buttes Chaumont 
—Resistance at Pere-Lachaise— Appearance of the cemetery— Taking of La 
Villette -Government circular— Hostile attitude of Belleville —Rage of the 
insurgents— Belleville conquered— Circular issued by M. Thiers- Proclama- 
tions of Marshal de MacMahon— Vicar Lamazon's letter— Military decrees- 
Arms taken from the insurgents— Paris divided into four military depart- 
ments—Aspect of the city— The Louvre— The TuUeries— The Palais-Royal— 
The Hotel de Ville— Escape of the Archives— The Bank of France— The 
Palais de Justice— The Legion of Honor— The Conseil d'Etat and the Cour 
des Comptes— Cost of the Commune to the city of Paris— Strangers of the 
Commune. 

ON Saturday, May 27th, the silence which had reigned 
throughout the night was broken at an early hour. 
The last desperate struggle began. 

The Federals were being pushed upon Belleville, and 
were confined in a semicircle, always narrowing, the two 
extremities of which rested on the ramparts, the inter- 
mediate part following the boulevards from the Bastille 
to the Chateau-d'Eau, and skirting the canal from the 
Faubourg du Temple to the Place de la Villette. Three- 
quarters of the army Avere there massed, in order to finish 
at a single blow. 

The aspect of the line of battle was lugubrious ; the sky 
was gray with clouds, and rain fell from time to time, set- 
tling down in the afternoon to a steady pour. 

On the left stood the Butte Chaumont ; on the summit, 
at the foot of a tree which dominated the platform, were 
the pieces of the insurgents, pointed from behind a wooden 
balustrade in the direction of Montmartre ; the artillery- 



436 THE PARIS COMMUNE. 

men, few in number, on account of the shells which rained 
upon the Butte, were in their shirt-sleeves. Just below 
the heights, on the declining ground, could be seen the 
church of Belleville, with its high and pointed steeples. 
Still further down is the quarter of Menilmontant, distin- 
guished by the steeple of Saint Ambroise. From this 
point the ground rises rapidly, and to the right appears a 
vast line of verdure ; this is the cemetery of Pere-La- 
chaise. The detonations of artillery sounded here fre- 
quently, from the foot of a long obelisk, monumental 
ornament of a tomb. 

The line of the Federals bordered the canal by La Eo- 
quette, the Boulevard Eichard-Lenoir, and the Boulevard 
de la Villette, but they fell back incessantly as the attack 
progressed. 

General Douay, master of the barracks of the Chateau- 
d'Eau, advanced by the Faubourg du Temple, which re- 
sisted with fury. The barricade established beyond the 
canal, at the corner of the Eue Fontaine-au-Eoi, fired 
without interruption upon the barracks. But the troops 
advanced on the left, and, carrying the barricade of the 
Eue Grange-aux-Belles, occupied the hospital of Saint 
Louis. 

Towards the east, General Clinchant attacked by the 
Boulevard Prince-Eugene, by the Eue d'AngouMme, and 
by the extremity of the Boulevard Eichard-Lenoir, the 
barricades which defended the approaches of the canal. 
The resistance in the Eue des Trois-Bornes was particu- 
larly vigorous, the fire from the barricade being aided by 
that of insurgents in the surrounding houses, the win- 
dows of which had been stuffed with mattresses for their 
protection. 

At the intersection of the Boulevard Eichard-Lenoir 
and the Boulevard du Prince-Eugene, stood a barricade 
sixty yards in length, with ditches and embrasures ; the ex- 



THE BUTTES-CHAUMONT. 437 

terior parapet was made of bags of paper to deaden the force 
of the shells. This obstacle was unapproachable in front ; 
it was supported on the sides by barricades in all the 
streets running down towards the canal. The troops, 
however, advanced by the Bastille, attacking the secondary 
obstacles, such as the barricade of the Chemin-Vert, and 
succeeded in placing between two fires the great fortifica- 
tion at the bifurcation of the two avenues. The Federals 
were, forced to abandon it, leaving the neighborhood in 
ruins. Clothes with large red stains ; corpses black with 
powder ; horses horribly mutilated, and broken arms and 
caissons, were lying everywhere upon the ground, which 
seemed perfectly saturated with blood. 

During the entire afternoon shells fell like rain upon 
Belleville, the Buttes-Chaumont, and Pere-Lachaise, en- 
veloping the horizon in enormous clouds of smoke, and 
forced the musketry fire to descend gradually from the 
heights and take refuge in the lower quarter of Belleville, 
between the Chateau-d'Eau and the Buttes-Chaumont, 
where it continued to roll Avitli diabolical rage. 

The Buttes-Chaumont, bombarded for three days by 
the battery established at Montmartre, surrounded and 
strongly attacked on Friday night, was not definitively 
taken until Saturday evening. Numerous traces of pro- 
jectiles in the neighborhood of the Buttes attest the efii- 
cacy of the artillery fire directed against them. A height 
situated at the extremity of the park of which the Federals 
had formed an advanced redoubt armed with cannon, was 
first taken by the troops ; the assault was then given on 
the interior hillocks, which were carried after a violent 
combat. The insurgents resisted to the very last moment, 
only a few shells remaining in their possession when the 
soldiers penetrated into their entrenchments, where they 
were surrounded and taken prisoners to the number of 
7,000 or 8,000 men. 



438 THE PAEIS COMMUiTE. 

.The investment of Pere-Laehaise was conducted at the 
same time by the combined action of the troops under 
General Vinoy, who, from the Place du Trone, had gained 
the cemetery by the exterior boulevards and Charonne, 
and of tlie column which advanced along the Boulevard 
Eich ard- Lenoi r. 

The Pere-Lachaise had been occupied for several days by 
the Federals ; they had easily appreciated all the import- 
ance of this commanding position. Consequently, with- 
out respect for this place of eternal repose, without fear of 
calling the tumult and trouble of battle amidst these 
tombs — last testimonies of affection and regret, which con- 
tain the remains of so many men illustrious in politics, in 
letters, in the sciences, and in the arts — they had made of 
the cemetery a sort of entrenched camp, all the better de- 
fended as each of its narrow pathways, each of its funereal 
monuments, offered from step to step a refuge to the 
combatants. On the elevation surmounted by the well- 
known pyramid consecrated to the family of Beausejour, 
the insurgents had installed a battery of large calibre, 
whose shells burst during three days over all the habitations 
of the right bank. In the beginning, the Pere-Lachaise 
had received a garrison of from 7,000 to 8,000 National 
Guards, but as circumstances became more menacing, the 
ranks gradually thinned ; the men profited by the night to 
make their escape, and on Saturday morning the cemetery 
contained only from 3,000 to 4,000 combatants. 

In the evening, towards nine o'clock, the Federals were 
seized with a general panic at the alarming news . of 
the capture of the barricades at the Chateau-d'Eau and 
the Boulevard Eichard-Lenoir, and of the approach, more 
and more imminent, of the regular troops. The ISTa- 
tional Guards withdrew in great haste, scaling the walls 
of the cemetery, and commenced a retreat which greatly 
resembled a disordered flight. The chiefs, however, sue- 



PERE-LACHAISE TAKEN. 439 

cecded in rallying a portion of their forces, made them 
retnrn to the cemetery and continue the service of the 
batteries which they had abandoned so precipitately. ' 

But this return of resistance was not of long duration. 
The insurgents, seeing themselves attacked on three sides 
at the same time, understood that soon all retreat would 
be impossible, and most of them fled in great haste, after 
having spiked their pieces. It was time ; three regiments 
of the line crossed at the same moment the boundary of 
Pere-Lachaise. The determined men who had persisted 
in retaining this position, opened upon the soldiers a 
violent fire of musketry, sheltering themselves behind the 
tombs, among which they slowly retreated. It was a use- 
less efibrt ; soon forced to yield before the firmness of the 
attack, the troops were quickly in possession of the dis- 
puted ground, making its defenders prisoners. 

The cemetery, garnished with cannon, with loopholes 
pierced in its walls, dug up in different parts for the estab- 
lishment of entrenchments, presented a singular spectacle, 
the disorder contrasting sadly with its solemn and peaceful 
intention. 

IsTear the tomb of the Duke de Morny were several pieces 
of artillery, while in the vault itself the ammunition was 
stored. On the left of the tomb were two guns, and a few 
steps to the right five more. Near the chapel, which pro- 
bably served as headquarters of the staff, were two more 
pieces. This position was, in fact, well chosen for the end 
the insurgents had in view. The eye from here embraces, 
in their smallest details, the large avenues of the capital, 
and the quarters which had suffered so terribly from the 
conflagration. 

Many of the tombs were badly injured, particularly in 
the 37th division, Chemin du Bourget. In one a shell 
pierced the outer wall of the tomb and lodged in the 
bottom of the sepulchre without exploding. Others had 



440 THE PAKIS COMMUNE. 

their inscriptions entirely destroyed, or their mouumenta 
much defaced. 

Meanwhile, General Ladmirault had continued his 
movement on La Villette, and taken possession of the 
Abattoir and the Cattle Market. He then advanced 
towards the Buttes Chaumont, attacking this position in 
the rear, and aiding in its capture as already described. 

The entire quarter of La Villette at the end of the 
struggle bore strong evidence of the fury and violence 
with which it had been conducted. The houses of the 
boulevard were . riddled with bullets and shells from the 
roof to the ground. The insurgents had not been con- 
tented with firing from behind the barricades; it had 
been necessary to dislodge them from the windows, and 
nearly every house had become in turn the scene of a 
violent struggle. 

The benches were torn from the sides of the streets; 
the trees, twisted, broken, and notched, literally covered 
the ground with their fragments. Broken lamp-posts 
were strewn around, and the wooden huts erected during 
the siege to shelter the Mobiles were knocked down, 
burned, pierced with bullets, or cut in pieces. Most of 
these shelters were filled with the bodies of the insur- 
gents killed in battle, lying one upon another. The 
faces smeared with mud and blood, or gashed with horri- 
ble wounds, were terrible to look upon. Behind the bar- 
ricade of the Place de la Eotonde, although the dead had 
been carried away, their number was proved by the quan- 
tities of blood which ran in streams through the gutters. 
Cannons with broken carriages, guns lying in heaps, and 
stained with blood, horses stretched dead upon the ground 
mingled with boxes of preserves and portions of bread — 
such were the sights which might be seen behind every 
barricade in the quarter. 

In the Eue de Puebla sixty insurgents were killed 



C M M U ISM S T ORPHANS. 441 

behind one barricade ; tliey felt their cause to be infalli- 
bly lost, and thought only to sell their lives as dearly as 
possible. 

One of the insurgents taken during the combat had 
with him his two children, one eight and the other ten 
years of age. 

After the death of their father, these two young orphans 
remained in the midst of the soldiers, who treated them 
with the greatest kindness. 

A few days later, the colonel of the regiment, perceiving 
these poor little creatures eating out of the same dish with 
a squad of soldiers, asked their names and how they came 
there. 

A corporal replied that they were the sons of an insur- 
gent condemned to death by court-martial ; he added that 
the two orphans had neither family nor friends to charge 
themselves with their fate. 

Moved by this recital, the colonel proposed to the offi- 
cers and soldiers to adopt these orphans, and to admit 
them amongst the children of the troop. His proposition 
was received with enthusiasm. The children were clothed 
in military dress, and will be henceforth sons of the 29th 
of the line. 

The following circular was issued by M. Thiers relative 
to Saturday's military proceedings : 

" VEESArLTES, May 27—7 p.m. 

" Our troops have not ceased to follow up the insurgents 
step by step. They have carried daily the most important 
positions, making 25,000 prisoners, besides the killed and 
wounded. In this ably-calculated march, our generals and 
their illustrious chief have been desirous of sparing as 
much as possible our brave soldiers, who were only too 
anxious to overcome rapidly the obstacles opposed to 
them. 

19* 



442 THE PARIS COMMUNE. 

" While General dii Barrail with his cavalry was cap- 
turing Forts Montrouge, Bicetre, and Ivry, General de 
Cissey was executing brilliant operations, which have had 
the effect of procuring us the whole of the left bank of the 
Seine. 

" General Vinoy, following the course of the river, 
marched towards the Bastille, which bristled with formid- 
able entrenchments. He carried this position with Gene- 
ral Verge's division ; and subsequently, with the aid of 
divisions under Generals Bruat and Faron, he obtained 
possession of the Faubourg Saint-Antoine as far as the 
Place du Trone. 

" Our flotilla has afforded General Vinoy brilliant and 
efficacious assistance. The latter's troops carried to-day a 
formidable barricade at the corner of the Avenue Philippe 
Auguste, and one at Montreuil. They have thus taken 
up a position to the east, at the foot of the heights of 
Belleville, the last refuge of this insurrection, whose lead- 
ers in their flight resort to incendiarism as the monstrous 
revenge for their defeat. 

" In the centre, General Douay has followed the lines of 
the boulevards, resting his right on the Bastille and his 
left on the Cirque Napoleon. 

" General Clinchant, who joined General Ladmirault in 
the west, has had to overcome a desperate resistance at 
the Magasins-Reunis, which, however, he has valiantly 
subdued. 

" Lastly, General Ladmirault, after vigorously carrying 
the Northern and Eastern Railways, has taken the direc- 
tion of La Villette, and occupied a position at the foot of 
the Buttes Chaumont. 

" Thus two-thirds of the army, after having conquered 
the whole of the ground on the right bank, are now ranged 
at the foot of the Belleville heights, which they are to at- 
tack to-morrow morning. 



RESULTS OF THE SIX DAYS. 4i3 

" During six days there has been constant fighting, and 
our energetic and indefatigable soldiers haye really achieved 
wonders. The merit of those who have had to attack bar- 
ricades is far different from that of those who have defended 
them. The officers in command of troojDS have shown 
themselves worthy of leading snch men, and have fully 
justified the vote of thanks passed by the Assembly. 

" After the few hours' repose which they are now enjoy- 
ing, they will to-morrow morning bring to an end the 
glorious campaign which they have undertaken against 
the most odious demagogues and criminals the world has 
ever seen. They will thereby deserve the eternal gratitude 
of France and humanity. 

'' Our troops have suffered painful losses. General Leroy 
de Dais is dead. Commandant Segoyer was made prisoner 
by the insurgents in the Place do la Bastille, and his cap- 
tors, without resjoect for the laws of war, shot him at 
once. This act is what we might have expected from men 
who set fire to our cities, and who have even collected a 
quantity of venomous liquid wherewith to poison the sol- 
diers, and cause almost instantaneous death." 

The Staff of the Army of Versailles issued the following 
report : 

" After having captured the slaughter-houses and cattle- 
market of La Villette with the division of General Grenier, 
and the large barricade armed with cannon at the Bond 
Point of the Boulevard de la Villette with the aid of Gen- 
eral Montaudon's division. General Ladmirault carried in 
the evening the Buttes Chaumont and the heights of 
Belleville, whence for three days the insurgent batteries 
had been bombarding Paris. General Vinoy, whose troops 
held in the morning the Eue and Faubourg Saint Antoine 
and the Cours de Vincennes, obtained possession of the 
Cemetery of Pere-Lachaise and the Mairie of the 20th 



44:4 THE PARIS COMMUNE. 

Arrondissement, ■wliicli were carried by battalions of Eusi- 
liers and sailors. 

" Generals Clinchant and Douay guard the line of the 
St. Martin Canal, and the Boulevards from the Prince 
Eugene Barracks to the Bastille. What remains of the 
insurgent forces is surrounded on all sides, and all resist- 
ance will have ceased to-day. 

" There was a very vigorous cannonade and musketry 
fire all last night in the direction of Belleville, where there 
were also numerous conflagrations. The firing still con- 
tinued this morning." 

The insurrection was now completely crushed, and the 
remaining fighting was but a struggle of despair, struggle 
still more terrible as the insurgents now fought only for 
the purpose of fighting. 

In the Faubourgs of Belleville the barricades were num- 
/ berless; they rose in every street, defended by cannon, 
! and from the neighboring houses, which were also fortified. 
The soldiers were obliged to conquer each of these impro- 
vised citadels. Once taken, the houses were searched in 
every story, the concierges being obliged to mount with 
the troops, after having given the number and position of 
the inhabitants. If their statement proved false they were 
shot forthwith. 

Here women approached the troops with smiles on their 
lips, distributing bread and wine. These, however, were 
soon discovered to be poisoned, and the soldiers were for- 
bidden to receive anything from the hands of the inhab- 
itants. Cigars dipped in corrosive liquids had been also 
distributed, and several officers had been shot by women 
who had approached them under different pretexts. 

These acts, which prove the ferocity with which the 
contest was conducted, together with the recital of the 
massacre of the hostages, added to the fury of the soldiers, 



A FEMALE riE]srD. 445 

who, in turn, gave no quarter. An insurgent general, 
dressed in civilian's clothes, was made prisoner and about 
to be shot, when he offered 1,000 francs to any man who 
would save him. He was answered by a laugh, and fell 
dead at the feet of his executioners. 

In one of the houses in which a young officer entered 
to make a perquisition, he was met at the door by a woman, 
who, throwing herself at his feet, and winding her arms 
around him, cried, at the same time drawing him within 
the entrance : 

" My son is in the house, but he was forced to fight ; do 
not kill him ! " 

" Bring him down ; we will see," replied the officer. 

The woman hastily mounted the stairs, and the young 
man, making a sign to his men, was about to follow, when 
he felt a terrible pain, and saw himself surrounded by 
flames. 

While one woman had occupied him in conversation, 
another, hidden in the alley, had thrown petroleum upon 
his uniform, and set it on fire. The men threw themselves 
upon their officer, and tore off his clothes as quickly as 
possible ; but two hours later he succumbed to the horri- 
ble burns which he had received. 

On Saturday morning (27th), about eight hundred in- 
surgents occupied the Place de la Fete. All the bandits 
of the Commune, the desperadoes, had come, hunted on 
every side, to seek here a last refuge, most of them to find 
death ; a certain number had their heads surmounted by 
the red liberty cap. 

In the morning, a young boy who wished to pass, and 
Avho was furnished with a safe-conduct perfectly in order, 
fell into the hands of these madmen, and was with diffi- 
culty rescued by their colonel, Du Bisson. 

The formidable bombardment directed by Montmartre 
against Belleville had driven the insurgents almost mad. 



- 446 THE PARIS COMMUNE. 

In the trouble and confusion caused by the rain of shells 
and grape-shot, they no longer recognized their chiefs, 
against whom their rage, powerless to harm their assail- 
ants, was now turned. They arrested Du Bisson, whom 
they accused of having betrayed them; released him, and 
arrested him again, when he was led away no one knows 
where. A few moments later their fury, always on the 
increase, turned upon one of their lieutenants, whom they 
shot upon the spot as a traitor. 

But the hour of punishment for them arrived. The 
battery of Bellevuo had been taken ; twenty-three insur- 
gents were shot on the spot ; and at six in the evening, 
while a few sharpshooters called the attention of the 
Federals towards the Eue de Crimee, the volunteers of 
Seine-et-Oise and the soldiers of the 64th regiment ad- 
vanced by the Rue Compans, turning and gaining posses- 
sion of the barricades. The Federals still wishing to fight, 
placed themselves v\^ith their backs against the houses of 
the square. 

"Fire on the commandant," cried their chief; and the 
brave officer fell pierced with balls. 

" In two ranks," then cried the Federal commandant, 
losing all self-possession. The unhappy men obeyed, and 
were decimated by a terrible discharge. The remainder 
then beat a retreat, setting fire, on the way, to a large 
building called the "Chateau." 

A last and furious engagement continued until Sunday 
afternoon at three o'clock, in Belleville and in the Eues 
du Faubourg-du-Temple, De Saint-Maur, D'Oberkampf, 
Folie-Mericourt, which extend at the foot of this height, 
formerly solely renowned for its parties of pleasure. 

During several hours the battle was horrible, and was 
conducted in many cases hand to hand. The musketry 
fire, sword fights, and charges with bayonet were multi- 
plied at all points, with a fury equal on both sides. From 



FEDERALS SUERENDEEIZsTG. 447 

the Kue de Charoiine to the Faubourg du Temple, and 
in all the Popincourt quarter, the fight was general, ardent 
and pitiless. The National Guards were killed behind 
the barricades, refusing to yield, and tlie troops remained 
intrepid and firm under a rain of balls sent from every 
window. 

At Belleville, where the capture of the barricades re- 
quired the most energetic efforts, and inflicted sensible 
losses on the regular army, the insurgents held out, as well 
as in the lower quarters, until all their ammunition was 
exhausted — until the last fortified work was completely 
destroyed. 

Finally, towards two o'clock, the fire slackened; shots 
were only to be heard at intervals ; the cries ceased at the 
different points of contest ; the battle of seven days, begun 
on the 21st of May, was approaching its end. 

At three o'clock, a body of about four hundred insur- 
gents descended from the heights of Belleville ; they 
came to surrender themselves prisoners. 

At their head marched four members of the Commune, 
preceded by a lieutenant of the staff bearing a red flag. 
They all carried their guns reversed, in sign of mourning, 
advancing silently ; and, criminal as was this revolt, this 
sad procession could not be looked upon without emotion. 
Arrived at the canal, when about to place themselves in 
the hands of the troops, they all threw down their arms, 
and were immediately surrounded and marched away. 

A large number of the insurgents had escaped by the 
side-streets, falling back towards Montreuil and Yincennes, 
but they were met in their retreat by the Prussian lines, 
where all passage was refused them. Any refuge was hence- 
forth impossible. On the left bank, the southern forts of 
Ivry, Bicetre and Montrouge, which had remained in 
possession of the Commune until the occupation of Paris, 
had belonged for two days to the legal Government. The 



448 THE PARIS COMMUNE. 

fort of Vincennes, the only point yet untaken, was sur- 
rendered on Monday morning, May 39tli, at the first dem- 
onstration made against it by a brigade of the army of 
General Vinoy. 

The Chief of the Executiye Power issued the following 
circulars, announcing the triumph of the Grovernment : 

" May 28th, 1871—2:15 P. M. 

"Our troops, charged v/ith the operations on the right 
bank, were last evening drawn up in a circle round the 
Buttes Ohaumont and the heights of Belleyille. During 
the night they oyercame all obstacles. General Ladmi- 
rault crossed the yalley of La Villette, proceeded beyond 
the slaughter-houses, and ascended the Buttes Ohaumont 
as well as the Belleville heights. 

" The young Davoust, so worthy of the name he bears, 
carried the barricades, and by daybreak General Ladmi- 
rault's corps had reached the summit of the heights. 
General Douay, starting from the Boulevard Eichard-Le- 
noir, also attacked the insurgents' positions at Belleville. 
During the same time. General Vinoy's men chmbed the 
ascent of the Oemetery Pere-Lachaise, and carried the 
Mairie of the 20tli Arrondissement and the prison of La 
Roquette. The sailors have everywhere displayed their 
usual bravery. 

" In entering La Eoquette, we had the consolation of 
saving the lives of one hundred and sixty-nine hostages, 
who were about to be shot. But, alas ! the wretches from 
whom we are obliged to tear Paris in flames and covered 
with blood, had had time to shoot sixty-four, among whom, 
we have the grief to announce, were the Archbishop of 
Paris, the Abbe Duguerry (the best of men). President 
Bonjean, and a number of other worthy men. After 
having murdered, during these last days, the generous 
Ohaudey, a heart full of goodness, and a sincere Eepubli- 
can, whom could they spare ? 



PARIS DELIVERED. 449 

"Now thrown back upon the ramparts, between the 
French army and the Prussians, who have refused them 
passage, they will expiate their crimes, and have either to 
die or surrender. 

" The too guilty Delescluze has been picked up dead 
by the troops of General Clinchant. Milliere, not less 
famous, has been shot for having fired three times from 
his revolver on the corporal who arrested him. These 
expiations do not console us for so many misfortunes, 
above all, for so many crimes ; but they should prove to 
these senseless men that civilization is not provoked and 
defied in vain, and that justice soon raises its voice. 

" The insurrection, compressed into the space of a fcAV 
hundred yards, is vanquished — definitively vanquished. 
Peace is about to be restored ; but it will not succeed in 
relieving all honest and patriotic hearts of the profound 
sorrow with which they are afflicted." 

"Paeis, May29, 1871. 

" To-day a brigade of the army of General Vinoy com- 
menced the siege works against the fort of Vincennes. 
As soon as the insurgents, who still occupied the position, 
perceived these preparations, they surrendered at discre- 
tion. One of the chiefs blew his brains out. Our troops 
took immediate possession of the fort." 

The social war was terminated ; the Communal insur- 
rection had at last succumbed, and Paris was delivered. 

This immense result was immediately announced to the 
Parisian population by the following proclamation from 
Marshal de MacMahon : 

"■ Headquarters, May 28, 1871. 
" I]<]"HABITANTS OE PaRIS : 

" The army of France came to save you. 
" Paris is delivered. 



iSO THE PARIS COMMUNE. 

" Our soldiers carried, at four o'clock, the last positions 
occupied by the insurgents. 

" To-day the struggle is finished ; order, labor, and 
security will now revive. 

" De MacMahon", Due de Magenta, 

" Marshal of France, Commander-m-Chief." 

On the same day the Marshal addressed to the troops 
the following order of the day, thanking them for the 
efforts which they had made with so much courage during 
this difficult contest : 

" SoLDiEES AND Sailors : — Your courage and devotion 
have triumphed over all obstacles. After a siege of two 
months, after a battle of eight days in the streets, Paris is 
at last delivered. In tearing the city from the hands of 
the wretches who had projected burning it to ashes, you 
have preserved it from complete ruin ; you have given, it 
back to France. 

"Soldiers and Sailors: — The entire country ap- 
plauds the success of your patriotic efforts ; and the !N"a- 
tional Assembly, by which it is represented, has accorded 
you the recompense most worthy of you. 

" It has been declared by a unanimous vote that the 
armies of sea and land have merited well of the country." 

As early as the 22d of May — in fact, at the news of the 
entrance of the troops into Paris — the Assembly had 
unanimously given this noble testimony of gratitude and 
encouragement to the soldiers. By a just and delicate 
sentiment, they had associated the Chief of the Executive 
Power in the thanks which they addressed to the army in 
the name of France. M. Thiers and the army had equally 
merited well of the country. Thanks to their patient and 
resolute zeal, Paris and France were restored to each 



STORY OF A HOSTAGE. 451 

other; the sovereignty of the nation had overcome the 
most terrible of revolts; the civilization and national 
unity of France were saved. 

But alas ! at the price of what disasters, of what ruins 
strewn over Paris, were these results obtained ! How 
many unhappy men, misled certainly by the most detest- 
able passions, but still fellow-citizens, were killed or 
taken prisoners by thousands ! how many gallant soldiers 
fell pierced by fratricidal balls ! 

As soon as the combat was terminated, energetic meas- 
ures were taken for restoring order in Paris : arms were 
everywhere seized, and in each quarter a rigid investiga- 
tion was made. During several days, each street, guarded 
at its two extremities by sentinels, was searched from 
house to house, from story to story, when every sus- 
pected individual was immediately arrested, and all stores 
of dangerous matters instantly seized. 

A large number of insurgents were taken prisoners 
during these domiciliary visits, many of them important 
j)ersonages, while powder, cartridges, petroleum, and guns 
were seized in quantities. On every point the barricades 
were overthrown as quickly as possible, and the streets 
restored to a condition which rendered circulation com- 
paratively easy. 

The public mind, filled with joy at its deliverance, was 
at the same time troubled by the horrors of the last few 
days, among which stood pre-eminent the frightful mas- 
sacre of the hostages. On Sunday morning a letter was 
written by M. Lamazou, Vicar of the Madeleine, describ- 
ing the events which occurred at La Eoquette during the 
last days of his imprisonment as hostage : 

" Paris, May 28th, 1871. 

" We left this morning the prison of La Eoquette, ten 
ecclesiastics, forty sergents-de-vilh, and eighty-two sol- 



452 THE PAEIS COMMUNE. 

diers, after having escaped death only by a prodigy of 
audacity and sang-froid. 

"Prisoner of the Committee of Public Safety at the 
Conciergerie, Mazas and La Eoquette, I will be to-day 
sparing of details regarding the revolting and monstrous 
acts of which the last-named prison has been the theatre, 
and -which assure it hereafter a renown amongst the places 
most sinisterly celebrated. To mention one out of a hun- 
dred, a vicar of ISTotre-Dame-des-Victoires and myself 
passed a half-an-hour on Thursday, May 25th, preparing 
ourselves to be shot. It was only a false alarm, and the 
agents of the Commune charged with these amiable in- 
vitations consoled those who were the objects of them, 
in assuring them that what didn't take place to-day 
w^ould not fail to arrive on the morrow. For the time 
they were only charged with bringing one of our neighbors 
before a kind of court-martial, then sitting in the prison, 
and which was composed of citizens principally remark- 
able, some for their stupidity, the others for their fe- 
rocity. 

" Since the atrocious execution of Monseigneur the 
Archbishop of Paris, of M. le Cure de la Madeleine, of 
President Bonjean, of M. AUard, former missionary, and 
of the Jesuit Fathers Clair and Du Coudray, which took 
place on Wednesday, May 24th, in a corner of the e'xterior 
court of the prison, without motive, without judgment, 
without verbal process, in presence of a delegate of the 
Commune, who had no other mandate than a revolver in 
his hand, and of a crowd of National Guards, who could 
manifest no sentiments but the most revolting outrages ; 
without any respect for the bodies of these noble victims, 
who were stripped of their clothes, piled on a common 
wagon, and thrown into a corner of earth at Charonne, it 
was evident that the burlesque acts of the Commune were 
to be succeeded by others both destructive and sanguin- 



VICTIMS AT LA ROQUETTE. 453 

ary, and that the hostages who had been conducted from 
Mazas to La Eoquette on the morning of the entrance of 
the Versailles troops into Paris, were destined to undergo 
the same fote. 

" On Friday, May 26th, thirty-eight gendarmes and 
sixteen priests were conducted to Pere-Lachaise, and 
there shot. On the following day, as the army of Ver- 
sailles approached the heights of Pere-Lachaise — where 
the infernal battery had been erected which was to reduce 
to ashes the finest monuments of Paris — an order was 
given to shoot all the priests, soldiers, and sergents-de- 
ville who still remained in the prison. The members of 
the Commune who persisted in their horrible designs had 
installed themselves in the register oflfice of La Eoquette. 
I was able, from my cell, to follow their deliberations, and 
I afl&rm that there cannot be a public house of the worst 
reputation where the behavior would not be more exem- 
plary. 

"At half-past three the purveyor of these executions 
ordered the inhabitants of the second and third stories to 
descend. One of the keepers of La Eoquette, whose name 
ought to be known to the public, M. Pinet, yielding to a 
generous inspiration of humanity, opened rapidly the 
doors of all the cells, declaring that it was frightful to see 
honest people shot by such ignoble bandits, and that he 
would sacrifice his life for ours if we would aid in oppos- 
ing them by an energetic resistance. 

" This proposition was received with enthusiasm ; each 
person improvised an arm in iron or in wood, and two 
solid barricades were established at the entrance of the 
doors on the third story ; an opening was made in the 
floor to communicate our resolution to the lower story, 
where the sergents-de-ville already meditated the same 
design. Under the direction of the keeper, Pinet, and of 



454 THE PARIS COMMUNE. 

an enterprising Zouave, the eastern pavilion became a 
veritable fortress. 

The Commune, which was to parody and even surpass 
all that was most odious and grotesque in the revolution 
of 1793, allowed that ignoble populace, seen in Paris only 
on sinister days, to enter the court of the prison, in order 
to regale them vidth the spectacle of another day of Sep- 
tember. 

" While the crowd without shouted and menaced, some 
of the National Guards, charged with shooting us, mount- 
ed to the third story, announcing that the prison was to 
be mined and blown up, or else reduced to ashes by means 
of their formidable artillery established at P^re Lachaise. 
They then set fire to one of our barricades in order to 
suffocate us, but this fire was soon extinguished. 

" One detail I do not wish to omit. The individual who 
waved his gun in the most cynical manner was a man 
condemned to death by the Assize Court of the Seine, 
and who was prisoner at La Eoquette. Many of the 
same class had the doors of their prisons opened, and left 
the building, shouting enthusiastically, " Vive la Com- 
mune ! " 

" Our energetic resistance caused great astonishment to 
the members of the Commune, who soon retreated towards 
Charonne and Belleville. The crowd, impressed by this 
example, followed the Commune, and we were able to 
close the doors of the prison. We were half saved, thanks 
to the disorder which followed; it was then that the 
populace remaining before La Eoquette, passing from 
words of menace to those of seduction, began to cry 
" Vive la Ligne ! " declaring that they simply wished to 
restore all the prisoners to liberty. Four priests and 
eighteen soldiers allowed themselves to be deceived by 
these promises ; hardly had they left the prison before 
they were placed against one of its walls and shot, and the 



DISARMING PARIS. 455 

bodies of the four priests served to crown a neighboring 
barricade. 

" During the night a strict watch was established in 
the two stories ; the menacing cries which rose outside 
frightened no one ; at last, on Sunday, the 28th, at dawn 
of day, the musketry fire of the Versailles troops, to which 
we listened with an emotion more easily to be understood 
than described, announced their approach ; at a quarter 
past five the barricade opposite La Eoquette was carried 
by a vigorous attack, and the soldiers of the Infantry of 
Marine took possession of the prison. 

" We were thus unexpectedly restored to life after four 
days of the most cruel agony which can possibly be imag- 
ined. 

" Eeceive, sir, etc., 

'•'L'Abbe Lamazou, 

" Vicar of the Madeleine." 

It was indispensable that the disarming of Paris should 
be effected as rapidly as possible, and for that purpose the 
Chief of the Executive Power caused the following decree 
to be published : 

"Versailles, May 29, 1871. 

" The Chief of the Executive Power of the French Ee- 
public, 

" Considering that arms distributed throughout Paris 
in profusion and without control, have fallen into the 
hands of rioters and malefactors, and that a general dis- 
arming can alone guarantee, at this moment, the public 
security, 

" DECREES : 

" Art. I. Under the orders of the mihtary authorities, 
all warlike weapons are to be carried to each Mairie, to be 
afterwards placed in the arsenals of the State. 

" Art. II. The National Guards of Paris and of the 
Department of the Seine are dissolved. Until the Na- 



456 THE PARIS COMMUNE. 

tional Assembly shall haye decided concerning their re-or- 
ganization, the citizens who lent their aid to the army for 
the re-establishment of order, may continue their services 
under the orders and direction of the military authorities. 
"Art. III. The Ministers of War and of the Interior, and 
the Marshal commanding the Army of Paris, are charged 
with the execution of the present decree." 

The previous evening, the General commanding the 
Second Corps had caused the following notice to be pla- 
carded on the left bank : 

" Headquaetees of the Luxemboukg, May ,2S, 1871. 

" According to the orders of the Marshal, Commander- 
in-Chief of the Army of Versailles, the disarming of the 
city of Paris is general, and admits of no exception. 

" While the General commanding in chief the Second 
Corps of the left bank of the Seine causes this measure to 
be rigorously executed, he wishes, at the same time, publicly 
to express his satisfaction at the eager and patriotic assis- 
tance given to the army by certain members of the ISTa- 
tional Guard who fought for the cause of order and civili- 
zation. These brave companions in arms have given a 
noble example to their fellow-citizens, and have shown 
what the Parisian population might have done against a 
minority of adventurers and anarchists who oppressed it. 

" In the name of France, in the name of a menaced 
society, the General commanding the Second Corps thanks 
them, and cordially presses their hands. 

^ "E. DE CiSSET," 

" The General Commanding the Second Corps." 

The approximative number of arms taken from, the in- 
surgents, in virtue of these military orders, is as follows : 
285,000 chassepots. 
195,000 guns a tdbatiere. 
68,000 " ainston. 



MACMAHON'S DECEEES. 457 

That is, 548,000 guns of different models, with sabre- 
bayonets, or bayonets with their corresponding shoulder- 
belt. 

56,000 cavalry sabres of all forms and for all ranks. 

14,000 carbines, mostly Enfield. 

39,000 revolvers. 

Finall}'-, 10,000 arms of every kind, snch as daggers, 
stilettoes, sword-canes, etc., giving a total of 667,000 wea- 
pons of every kind taken from the hands of the Commun- 
ists, independently of 1,700 pieces of cannon and mitrail- 
leuses which they had torn away from the State, and of 
which they had made such terrible use. 

As for the armes de luxe, such as guns used in the 
chase, pistols, sabres, etc., whose surrender was exacted in 
consequence of the exceptional circumstances of the mo- 
ment, their number was hardly over 15,000, which is 
easily explained by the departure of the great portion of 
the richer population at the first evidence of insurrectional 
tendencies in the city. 

In order to assure the prompt and absolute return of 
order, and to attain the harmony indispensable for the 
execution of the different public services. Marshal de 
MacMahon issued on May 30th the following decree : 

" At Headqttaetbks, May 30th, 1871. 

"Until further order, the city of Paris will be divided 
into four great military commanderies, namely: 

« 1st. That of the East, comprising the XI, XII, XIX 
and XX Arrondissements, under the orders of General 
Vinoy, commanding the Army of Eeserve; headquarters 
at the Convent of Picpus. 

"2d. That of the North- West, comprising the YIII, 
IX, X, XVI, XVII and XVIII Arrondissements, under 
the orders of General Ladmirault, commanding the First 
Army Corps ; headquarters at the Elysee. 
20 



458 THE PAEIS COMMU]SrE. 

" Sd. That of the South, comprising all the left bank, 
that is, the V, VI, VII, XIII, XIV and XV Arrondisse- 
ments, under the orders of General de Cissey, command- 
ing the Second Army Corps ; headquarters at the Luxem- 
bourg. 

" 4th. That of the Centre, comprising the I, II, III and 
IV Arrondissements, under the orders of General Douay, 
commanding the Fourth Army Corps ; headquarters Place 
Vend6me. 

" According to Article 7 of the law of 1849, relatiye to 
the state of siege, all the powers possessed by the civil au- 
thorities for the maintenance of order and the police pass 
entirely into the hands of the military authorities. 

" De MacMahof, Due de Magenta, 

" Marshal of France, Commander-in-Chief." 

On the same day. May 30th, the commandery of the 
North-West gave the first sign of life, in repressing ener- 
getically attempts on the public security. General Lad- 
mirault caused the following notice to be placed on the 
walls : 

"notice. 

" Headquarters op the Eltsee, May SOtli, 18T1. 

"Isolated shots are now and then fired from houses sit- 
uated in different quarters on the right bank. 

'• The General commanding in chief the First Army 
Corps informs the inhabitants that any house from which 
a shot is fired will be immediately the object of a military 
execution. 

'•' The military authority will not flinch from any rigor- 
ous measure which will tend to establish security in the 
streets of the capital, order and peace in the country. 
It has a right to count on the concurrence of all good 
citizens." 

On the 30th, another law was passed, ordering all cafes, 
restaurants and wine-shops to be closed at eleven o'clock. 



THE SALE OF PETE OLEUM. 459 

Any proprietor disobeying this order, or any person found 
in his establishment after that hour, was to be immedi- 
ately arrested. 

At the same time the theatres were obliged to be fur- 
nished with a special authorization from the military au- 
thorities before continuing their representations, and the 
same was required from all newspapers — eyen from those 
which had already reappeared. 

The following notice was later placarded, and was read 
with general approbation. 

" Headquakteks, Pabis, June 2d, 1871. 

" Until further order, all commerce in petroleum is for- 
mally forbidden. 

"Exceptions can only be made for pharmaceutical prepa- 
rations. In such cases, the request must be addressed to the 
military authorities, who will grant it only after having 
received all the necessary guarantees." 

Meanwhile, what aspect did Paris present, while the 
Government and the army took the dispositions necessary 
to restore its calm, to obtain the pacification of the public 
mind, and to bring back order and security to its streets ? 

The central quarters were gradually regaining their cus- 
tomary appearance. The shops were opening, but as yet 
very slowly. The suffering had been so great during the 
last two months — the nightmare of the last eight days 
had been so frightful — that the inhabitants could with 
difficulty rouse themselves from the succeeding torpor, 
and return seriously to their work. The barricades were 
everywhere being destroyed. 

Often, at certain points, the passers-by were required to 
take down a stone — perhaps the very same which they had 
been forced to raise during the time of the Commune. 

From nearly all the houses, although still closed, floated 



460 THE PAEIS COMMUNE. 

the tricolored flag. Eyerpi^liere the walls bore traces of 
the recent struggle; bullet-holes, large pieces torn away 
by the bursting of a shell, or the marks of a conflagration 
which the Communists had endeavored to ignite in re- 
treating. 

The arrests still continued. Numerous denunciations 
were hourly made against former Communists. These 
denunciations were mostly made by women — a fact which 
was also to be remarked under the Commune, in regard 
to the Versaillese and suspected persons. The streets 
were, consequently, here and there dotted with detach- 
ments of three or four National Guards, who had just 
captured a Communist, and were leading him away. "With 
regard to incendiaries, no pity was shown. Any individ- 
ual, man or woman, found carrying a bottle of petroleum, 
was instantly shot. 

The prisoners taken were directed on different points 
of Paris, such as the theatre of the Chdtelet, and from 
there, if not condemned by the Grand Provost, were con- 
ducted to Versailles. 

The number of insurgents slain in the contest was in- 
calculable. During the first few days they were buried 
anywhere and everywhere — on the banks of the Seine, in 
the public squares, at the foot of the barricades — in order 
to prevent a too rapid decomposition from their contact 
with the air. 

The aspect of Paris at night during this time was par- 
ticularly mournful. 

Usually, at this season of the year, night seems turned 
into day ; the cafes and restaurants are brilliantly lighted 
and crowded with loungers ; the little chairs and tables in 
front of these establishments all have their occupants, and 
threaten shortly, from their increasing number, to drive 
the crowd of promenaders from the sidewalk into the 
street. Night is the city's brightest and gayest time ; one 



PAEIS AT NIGHT. 461 

walks in fairyland, cares fly away, thorns disappear, evil 
is veiled in this terrestrial paradise. 

No wonder the Parisians love their city; no wonder 
they forget their misfortunes within its walls. What land 
can boast another like it ? 

But what a difference immediately succeeding the reign 
of terror. The houses were all closed ; the gas in many 
quarters unlighted. Here and there on the tables of some 
of the cafes might be seen the flickering light of a solitary 
candle. The streets were deserted, and after nine o'clock 
nothing was heard but the echoing steps of the sen- 
tinels who guarded the corners of the streets. ]S"ow and 
then the cry of " Qui vive ! Passez au large ! " interrupted 
the silence, as at rare intervals a passer-by was seen. 'So 
passenger was allowed to walk at night along the pave- 
ments ; all were obliged to take the middle of the street, lest 
some evil-intentioned person should throw petroleum upon 
the houses, and deliver them as prey to the flames. Often 
the inhabitants, still uneasy, and not sufficiently reassured 
by the precautions of the municipalities who had caused 
all the gratings of the cellars to be stopped up, would sit 
upon their door-steps until an advanced hour of the 
night. 

It was they who, in such cases, ordered passers-by to 
take the middle of the street, and it was not prudent to 
disobey their injunction ; any one doiug so was instantly 
suspected, and the cries of the inhabitants soon brought 
the National Guards from the nearest post, who arrested 
him forthwith. 

It was not until Saturday, June 3d, that trains with 
passengers were allowed to enter Paris, or that the in- 
habitants were allowed to leave without a laissez- passer. 
Up to that time workmen were actively employed in 
destroying the barricades and in clearing and cleaning 
from the streets all traces of the horrible contests of wliich 



462 THE PAEIS COMMUNE. 

tbey had been the scene. When the eager and curious 
crowd of sight-seers was finally allowed to enter, the dis- 
appointment was general. The newspaper accounts had 
been so horrible, that many expected to see but the black- 
ened ruins of a once beautiful city. The bustle and activ- 
ity in the streets were surprising to all, few being able to 
understand that finest trait of the French character, 
which enables the nation to rise superior to misfortune, 
and thus the sooner to conquer it. 

Ruins, however, there were in quantities; France's finest 
palaces, the scenes of her oldest associations, had been 
ruthlessly destroyed, and amidst their charred and black- 
ened masses the fire still smouldered angrily. 

Foremost among these stood the Louvre and Tuileries 
— ^the former happily but little injured, if we except the 
destruction of its magnificent library; but the latter 
almost entirely destroyed. 

These two piles of buildings were completed and har- 
monized under the second Empire. With their inclosures, 
they occupy an area of sixty acres, and may be said to 
have formed a single palace of unequaled splendor and 
magnitude. 

The Louvre consists of the old and new Louvre. The 
old Louvre is nearly square, being 576 feet long by 538 
wide, and contains a vast collection of sculpture, paint- 
ings, and other works of art. The eastern fa9ade is one 
of the finest architectural works of any age or country ; it 
is a colonnade of twenty-eight coupled Corinthian columns. 

The new Louvre, inaugurated in 1857, consists of two 
piles of buildings projecting from two galleries, which join 
the old Louvre to the Tuileries, and forming the eastern 
boundary of the Place du Carousel. The Louvre was 
originally a hunting lodge, and was converted into a feudal 
fortress, about the year 1200, by Philip Augustus. It was 
enlarged by his successors, more paxticularly by Henry II 



THE LOUVRE AITD TUILEEIES. 463 

and Catherine de Medicis ; and here, in 1572, took place 
the wedding ceremony of Margaret of Valois and the King 
of Navarre. Charles IX fired npon the Hugnenots from 
one of its windows ; and here Henry IV lay in state after 
ids assassination by Ravaillac. Bernini was brought from 
Italy by Louis XIV in order to complete the palace ; but 
the east front, with its beautiful colonnade, was the work 
of a Frenchman, Claude Perrault. 

The palace remained unfinished down to the time of 
Napoleon I, who converted the building Into a national 
museum, where he gathered all the art treasures of France 
together, with the spoils of his numerous campaigns. Many 
of these stores were carried away by the Allies at the Ees- 
toration, but the remainder, with what has since been 
added, make the collection of the Louvre one of the finest 
in the world. 

Under the late Emperor the v/hole collection was re- 
arranged, and great additions made. In 1861 the entire 
collections of the Marquis Campana, of Eome, were pur- 
chased for 81,000,000 ; these form the greater portion of 
the Musee Napoleon III. 

The ground on which the Tuileries stands, or rather 
stood, was once a tile-yard, and was bought by Francis -I 
to please his mother, Louise de Savoie, who preferred the 
position to that of the Palais des Tournelles. The new 
edifice was begun by Catharine do Medicis, with Delorme 
for her architect. 

The Tuileries seldom served as a royal residence until 
of late years. Neither Catharine de Medicis nor her sons 
ever lived there ; it was occasionally visited by Henry IV, 
was the scene of several banquets under Louis XIV, in- 
habited by Louis XV when a minor, and by Louis XVI 
as prisoner. During the great revolution the sittings 
of the Assembly, and afterwards of the Convention, were 
held in the Palace. The First Consul was afterwards in- 



464 THE PARIS COMMUKE. 

stalled there, and from, his time the Palace has become 
the home of the monarchs of France. 

In the revolution of 1830 the building was sacked and 
plundered ; restored to its former splendor under Louis 
Philippe, it was again inyaded in 1848, and the throne, 
carried away by the mob, was burned in the Place de la 
Bastille. A band of ruffians took possession of the royal 
apartments, where they remained for ten days. 

The Tuileries was then, used for a hospital, afterwards 
for an exhibition of pictures, and, in 1851, became the 
home of E"apoleon III. 

The flight of the Empress, when the Palace was again 
iuYiided by the mob on the 4th of September, 1870, and 
the concerts given for the benefit of the wounded during 
the days of the Commune, are the last historical episodes 
before the final catastrophe. 

The centre, north and south wings of the Tuileries were 
called respectively the Pavilion de I'Horloge, the Pavilion 
de Plore, and the Pavilion de Marsan. Under the late 
Empire the building was shown to visitors. 

Napoleon Ill's theatre and chapel were built upon the 
site of the old Salle des Machines, where Moliere's Psyche 
and Comedie Franpaise were played, and where Voltaire 
was publicly crowned. The state staircase led to a fine 
ball-room, called the Salle de la Paix, which opened into 
the Salle des Marechaiox. This room extended the whole 
depth of the Palace and the height of two floors, and was 
one of the most gorgeously decorated halls in Paris. The 
busts of marshals and generals were ranged along the 
walls, and the ceiling, exquisitely painted, was supported 
by four caryatides, copied from those by Jean Goujon, in 
the Louvre. Doors led on the right from Salle des Mare- 
chaux to the private apartments of the Emperor and Em- 
press, and on the left through the Salle du Premier Con- 
sul and the Salle d'Apollon to the Salle du Trone, where a 



THE PALAIS EOYAL. 465 

new throne occupied the place of the one burned by the 
mob in 1848, and the Galerie do Diane, the Imperial din- 
ing room. 

The Palais Eoyal, another of the public buildings at- 
tacked by the rage of the Commune, faces the Louvre, 
and is built on the site of Cardinal Eichelieu's palace. It 
was given to the Duke of Orleans by his brother, Louis 
XIV, and passed from him to the Eegent Duke. Here 
the Eegent and his daughter held their orgies, though not 
in the present edifice. His grandson Egalite rebuilt the 
Palace after a fire, and erected the ranges of shops to re- 
lieve his embarrassments. 

The Gardens of the Palais Eoyal were the favorite resort 
of Camille Desmoulins, and other mob orators, and in 
them the tricolored flag was unfurled July 13th, 1789. 
Here were hatched the plots which ended in the execu- 
tion of Egalite, when the Palace was sold by lottery. After 
the Eestoration it was bought back, and repaired by the 
Orleans family, by whom it was inhabited until they re- 
moved to the Tuileries in 1830. 

InA^aded and plundered by the mob in 1848, the build- 
ing was turned into a barrack, but, during the second 
Empire, it changed back again to a palace. 

Given by the Emperor to his uncle Jerome, it de- 
scended to Prince Napoleon, who fitted it up in the most 
sumptuous style. 

Nothing, however, can equal the loss to the city of the 
Hotel de Ville, which dates in part from 1628. This was 
a most magnificent structure, containing some of the 
finest saloons in Paris, and perhaps in the world. The 
additions made to this building in 1842 cost no less than 
$3,200,000. The building contained some five hundred 
statues of Erench celebrities, from the time of Charle- 
magne to Louis XIV, and, as a specimen of modern 
Erench magnificence, the decorations and furniture of 

20* 



466 THE PAKIS COMMUNE. 

the Hotel de Yille were unrivaled. Here, during the 
late Empire, the Prefect of the Seine entertained 7,000 
guests in the great gallery, ornamented with gilt Corin- 
thian columns, and illuminated by three thousand wax- 
lights. 

The architecture of the building equalled, and, if pos- 
sible, excelled in worth its interior decorations. 

The Hotel de Ville was associated with many of the 
most famous and infamous scenes of the history of Paris. 
The first Commune held here its sittings, and here Eobes- 
pierre was taken prisoner by the soldiers, haying sought, 
with his partisans, a refuge in the building. 

From one of the windows Louis Philippe, the " Citizen 
King," was presented to the people by Lafayette. In 1848 
the soldiers were quartered here, and in 1871 the building 
became the stronghold of the Central Committee, and 
afterwards of the Commune, who, determined that no 
other power should possess what they had lost, set fire to 
the magnificent pile and reduced it to ashes. 

The Hotel de Ville was the one, of all the monuments 
of Paris, which the Commune had the least right and the 
least pretext to destroy, and it is precisely the Hotel de 
Ville whose ruin is most complete, most irreparable. 
Everywhere else, even where the fire has been most vio- 
lent, something remains which, if required, renders repa- 
ration not impossible. 

Here, however, the destruction was implacable; it seems 
as though a breath would overthrow what still remains 
standing ; and yet, while this ruio is the most complete, it 
is also the most beautiful which has been left by the van- 
dals of 1871. 

Recent as the ruins are, they have already the majesty 
which is ordinarily given by time alone to the cruel work 
of the hand of man. Here a few hours have produced the 
slow effect of centuries. 



THE HOTEL DE VILLE. 46? 

The skeleton of the immense palace alone remains. The 
walls, which are corroded by the flames, irregularly muti- 
lated, with their windows enlarged and disjoined, their 
doors resembling breaches, and their summits capriciously 
cut in points, give them the appearance of the battle- 
ments of a dismantled fortress ; with the statues of the 
great Parisians, who were the honor of their native city, 
tottering on their bases, some still standing erect and 
proud, others already overthrown and turned towards the 
Palace, as though to contemplate its ruin, all this forms a 
spectacle of imposing grandeur which moves, saddens, and 
at the same time captivates and retains the beholder. 

The losses to art in this terrible catastrophe were very 
great. The Eenaissance lost the small central edifice, the 
two marvelous mantel-pieces at the extremities of the 
Salle du Trone, one from the chisel of Beard, pupil of 
Michael Angelo, the other by Th. Bodin, and in the Salle 
du Zodiaque, the decorative sculptures on wood of Jean 
Goujon. 

The epoch of Louis XIV. lost the statue of the great 
king by Coysevox, which was a clief-cVmuvre, while the 
present epoch has lost forty-six statues by the ablest 
sculptors of modern times, which had been placed in 
niches purposely designed to ornament the principal front 
of the building. These statues are all either completely 
destroyed or greatly damaged. ^ 

The Hotel de Ville possessed also a fine municipal 
library, which was situated in the third story of the north- 
eastern pavilion, and which contained one hundred thou- 
sand volumes, principally historical works. ISTot a book, 
not a leaf remains. 

On the first story, the walls and ceilings were covered 
by works from the brushes of the greatest painters of 
modern times, which, like all the marvels of this beauti- 
ful building, were entirely destroyed. 



468 THE PAEIS COMMUNE. 

A collection of all the sovereigns of Europe who had 
accepted an invitation to the Hotel de Yille, and who in 
doing so, always engaged to send their busts in white mar- 
ble to the Prefect of the Seine, was also lost. Their num- 
ber was considerable. The busts of Queen Victoria and 
Prince Albert, of the King and Queen of Portugal, of the 
King of Belgium, the King of Italy, the Czar of Kussia, 
the King of Prussia, the Sultan of Turkey, etc., etc., all 
destroyed, mutilated, or lost in this formidable confla- 
gration. 

Most terrible of all was the loss of the prisoners who 
had been left by a refinement of cruelty in the cellars 
of the Hotel de Yille, and who were buried beneath the 
flames. 

The archives of the State had also been condemned to 
perish. The Commune did not like history, probably be- 
cause it foresaw the punishment which would be one day 
inflicted on its memory by this avenger of outraged right. 
The archives were therefore to be burned, with the thirty 
million files of papers which they contained. These doc- 
uments excited the hatred of one-half the Commune, and 
the contempt of the remainder. A more particular griev- 
ance, however, added to their desire for their destruction. 

The honorable director of the archives, M. Maury, one 
of the most learned men of the present day, under a 
menace of death several times repeated, had always re- 
fused to pull down the tricolor and replace it by the red 
flag. Such a crime could not be left unpunished. On 
Monday, May 22d, five men, of disreputable appearance, 
presented themselves in the cabinet of M. Maury, declar- 
ing that they came on the part of the Commune to 
assume the direction of the archives. The Commune once 
installed in the place, it may easily be imagined what 
fate was reserved for the precious collections which it 
contained. 



THE AECHIVES SAVED. 469 

The order to set the building on fire was sent on Tues- 
day, and would probably have been executed during the 
following night, notwithstanding the efforts of the director 
and of seven or eight devoted attendants whom he had 
kept with him, when, obeying an idea whose motive is 
easily imagined, but which had the happiest results. De- 
bock, director of the Imprimerie Nationale, and Alavoine, 
his associate, came to the director and delivered him the 
following precious document : 

"COMMU]SrE OF PAEIS. 

" Ministry of Justice, 

" National Printing- Office, 

" Cabinet of the Director. 

" PAias, May 24, 1871. 

" This evening, at six o'clock, an order was given to the 
Citizens Debock (Louis-Guillaume) and Alavoine (Andre) 
to prevent, by every means in their power, any attempt 
which might be made to burn the National Archives. 

" This order was solicited by those citizens. 

" Debock, 

" Director of the National Printing-Office. 

"A. Alavoine, 

" The Delegate." 

" P.S. — It should be remembered that any disobedience 
to the orders of the Commune, or of the Committee of 
Public Safety, is instantly followed by capital punish- 
ment." 

The archives were saved. 

We have already mentioned the almost miraculous 
escape of the Bank of France from the danger which sur- ' 
rounded it, owing to the heroic resistance of a body of 
National Guards, who remained day and night on watch 



470 THE PARIS COMMUKE. 

at their post. The following interesting account was 
published by the Gaulois concerning the proceedings at 
the Bank during the days of the Commune : 

" How many times has this question not been put : ' How 
was it the insurgents did not pillage the Bank of France ? ' 
In fact, that problem is a very interesting one to examine. 
Those scoundrels were complete masters of Paris; they 
lived surrounded by an atmosphere of theft. The Bank 
was almost entirely in their hands ; nevertheless it has 
escaped nearly intact. And yet it contained (official 
figures) three milliards of securities : one consisting of 
deposits of private individuals in gold, scrip, and dia- 
monds ; a second in precious metals and bank-notes ; and 
the third in paper-money, which required only one other 
signature to become legal currency. But is a name so 
difficult to write ? Once done, who could have distin- 
guished between the notes thus completed by the Com- 
mune and those previously in circulation ? l^o one, cer- 
tainly. 

" M. Eouland was Grovernor of the Bank when the storm 
burst. His duty was to save it, but he preferred making 
his escape. He withdrew, with regrettable precipitation, 
on the 23d of March — the very day on which Admiral 
Saisset came to Paris to rally round him the friends of 
the Government, or the National Guards of order, solidly 
established at the Saint- Lazare Station and at the Louvre, 
covering with a vast buckler the Bank and its Governor. 
Every one knows how the Admiral's attempt failed ; the 
friends of order, losing courage, dispersed, and the 
Federals had no difficulty in occupying the abandoned 
positions. Of the administration, only the sub-Governor, 
the Marquis de Ploeuc, remained, who devoted his atten- 
tion to the difficult task of guarding the three milliards, 
which represented the savings of France. He found in 



THE BANK OF FEANCE. 471 

the persons under him, and in the I^ational Guards of the 
quarter, the heartiest assistance, and a battalion was con- 
stituted to watch over the estabhshment. It was fiye 
hundred strong ; but the men had only twenty-five car- 
tridges each, very little for purposes of defence if really 
attacked, but enough to make a show, and to enable them 
to reply haughtily, the insurgents being ignorant of their 
penury of munitions. 

" It is generally believed that the cellars of the building 
can be inundated instantaneously ; but that is an error. 
Immense reserves of sand enclosed in sacks are accumu- 
lated below ; in case of danger they are piled on the notes 
and ingots to so great a height that if the whole structure 
fell in during a conflagration, not a single paper would 
be burnt. That precaution was taken, and the future 
awaited. 

"One day Citizen Beslay, the oldest member of the 
Commune, arrived. He seems to have been a good sort 
of man, somewhat weak in the head, a great talker, easily 
led by his . vanity, and who always spoke of conciliation. 
He was of the same province as the Marquis, with whom 
he was previously acquainted. He came to warn the sub- 
Governor that the Bank was to be pillaged, and expressed 
his regret. ' But" what is to be done ? ' he said ; ' how 
can you expect starving men to remain tranquil in front 
of a bakei''s shop ? ' The allusion was clear, and the met- 
aphor, of which M. de Ploeuc felt the correctness, rendered 
him very uneasy. He did not, however, let that feeling 
be suspected, and declared, in a firm tone, that if the Bank 
was attacked it was ready to defend itself; that it had arms 
and would know how to use them. Beslay then softened 
down, and dropped a hint that perhaps an understanding 
might be come to with the Commune if a delegate were 
accepted. The Marquis had enough sagacity to fathom 
his man, and to see at the first glance all the advantage 



472 THE PARIS COMMUKE. 

to be drawn from the proposal. ' A delegate ! ' said he ; 
never ! never ! I could only accept one man, because I 
believe him to be honest — because I know his intelligence 
and integrity — because he will assist me in saving this 
great establishment, on the fortune of which . . . etc. Is 
it not true, my friend, that you will lend me a hand for 
that patriotic duty ? ' The other, puffed up with vanity 
and contentment, promised everything asked ; in fact, he 
was cajoled. He made himself, in reality, extremely use- 
ful in the incessant struggle sustained daily during two 
months against all the men in authority, who were con- 
stantly quarreling amongst themselves — the Commune, 
the Central Committee, and the Committee of Public 
Safety — but who were all agreed on one point — to appro- 
priate the baker's bread. Therefore, a morsel was given 
them from day to day — the smallest possible. The first 
was six millions, which had been previously deposited by 
the city. There were no means of resistance. Afterwards 
M. Thiers authorized the payment, on account, of such 
sums as might be necessary to save the situation, and they 
were disputed inch by inch. 

" Ultimately, the men of the Hotel de Ville were over- 
come by their impatience, and one day Varlin and Jourde, 
the two delegates to the Fiuance, presented themselves, 
wearing their terrible red scarfs, and fully decided to exact 
everything, and threatening, if they were refused, to get 
up a riot in the faubourgs. The sub-Governor, who had 
been informed of their arrival by Beslay, said : ' Do what 
you like ; but understand, the day you lay your hands 
upon the Bank of France, its notes will not be worth more 
than the old assign ats. All your l^ational Guards have 
their pockets full of twenty-franc notes, and you will ruin 
them at one blow ; for, the security once destroyed by you, 
no one will give five sous for the paper.' That argument, 
so forcibly advanced, seemed to make an impression on 



HOW THE BAl^K WAS SAVED. 473 

the delegates. Every day a new comedy was played. 
Matters progressed, the Bank sometimes refusing, some- 
times giving when the pressure was too great, but never 
more than small sums. At last the struggle became more 
continuous and more dangerous. One morning the Ven- 
geurs de la Eepublique entered and seized the sub-Governor 
in his bed, demanding the keys. ' I can only give them 
to Beslay,' he repHed. The latter was sent for and arrived. 

'My friends my good friends!' And phrases 

and threats of resignation ! and diminution of demands ! 
and finally the free-marksmen withdrew without a sou. 

"Another time the young, gay and triumphant Le 
Mossu presented himself, furnished with a search-warrant 
signed by the Committee of Public Safety. He obtained 
nothing ; Jourde arrived to his rescue, raved and stormed ; 
arms, he said, were concealed in the Bank ; he had been 
told so ; he knew it to be a fact. ' There are none,' re- 
plied M. de Ploeuc, ' but you may satisfy yourself Come 
with me alone, and if you find a single musket besides 
those belonging to our garrison, I consent to be shot upon 
the spot. Come ! ' 'I believe you,' said Jourde, to whom 
the proposed search did not seem very inviting ; ' I believe 
you,' and, turning to his men, he added : ' Let us go, gen- 
tlemen ; no weapons are concealed here.' During all this 
time the Board of Directors, reduced to four members, 
met every day, but each time in a different place, having 
been warned by Beslay that they were to be seized as hos- 
tages. 

" The last three days were the most terrible. The bat- 
tahon of the 500 had not for a long time left the building 
to which all the men had been summoned, and where they 
were lodged with their wives and children. The Bank 
was surrounded by the insurrection, like an island in the 
midst of foaming waves. Fire was on every side ; great 
unwillingness was felt in detaching men to combat it, but 



474 THE PAEIS COMMUKE. 

necessity required that tliat course should be adopted. 
The humble employes of the Bank behaved like heroes ; 
some struggling against the conflagration which threat- 
ened to annihilate the quarter, while the others remained 
at their post, awaiting the combat and death. 

" What joy when, on Wednesday morning at half-past 
seven, the first glimpse of the soldiers was seen. The red 
flag had never sullied the Bank, and haste was made to 
hoist the tricolor ; and to complete the good fortune, M. 
Eouland returned — behind the soldiers — to resume his 
post, and deigned to congratulate the various persons on 
the premises. Marshal de MacMahon gave the National 
Guards a more flattering recompense, as he permitted them 
to retain their arms — an honorable exception of which the 
men were truly worthy." 

At the time when Paris was not Paris but LuUce — that 
is to say, little more than a mud-village — the site of the 
Palace of Justice was occupied by a castle or citadel, which 
served as a residence for the governor of the province, and 
sometimes for the Csesar who reigned over Gaul. 

A little later, when the dominion of the Pranks had 
succeeded that of the Csesars — when their barbarous domi- 
nation had replaced a learned oppression — the long-haired 
kings divided their time between the Palais des Thermos, 
situated on the site of the Hotel Cluny, and then in open 
country, and this other Palace which stood within their 
fortifications, and which a long succession of modifications 
and changes have made the Palais de Justice of the pre- 
sent time. 

The first who established himself perpetually in this 
Palace was Eudes, Count of Paris, and afterwards King 
of France. Eobert the Pions enlarged and embellished 
it, and during a long succession of years, each king left 
there some souvenir of his time. It was Saint Louis, 



THE PALACE OF JUSTICE. 475 

however, who did most for the building. By his orders it 
was almost entirely reconstructed and the Sainte-Chapelle 
built. 

This beautiful building, happily uninjured to-day, is an 
admirable specimen of the religious architecture of the 
thirteenth century — a model of grace, elegance, and at the 
same time of majesty, which nothing since has surpassed, 
or even equaled, and which will cause the name and 
genius of its author, Eudes de Montreuil, to live as long 
as there exist men, lovers of the beautiful and capable of 
appreciating it. 

Saint Louis had also caused an immense saloon to be 
constructed for the fetes which he gave sometimes to his 
great vassals ; here also were accomplished all the solemn 
acts of his reign. This grandiose-type of the civil archi- 
tecture of the thirteenth century occupied the site of the 
more modern Salle des Pas Perdus, which was unhappily 
entirely destroyed by the conflagration. 
' Philippe le Bel, Louis XI, Charles VIII and Louis XII 
made new additions to the Palace, although it was no 
longer the exclusive and habitual residence of royalty. 
The monarchs began to prefer the Louvre or the Hotel 
Saint-Paul, and Francis I was the last monarch who took 
up his residence here, which he did, however, only tempo- 
ro/rily. 

From the time of Saint Louis, the Parliament had 
divided the Palace with the king, and from Henry II they 
occupied it alone. 

Of the ancient Palace of the middle ages and the 
Eenaissance, nothing now remains but the Sainte-Chapelle. 
a part of the gallery, the kitchens, the Tour de I'Horloge, 
and the two neighboring towers. 

Forty years ago, works were begun after a new plan 
which were to end in the definitive completion of the 
Palace, and to realize the ameliorations which had been 



476 THE PARIS COMMUNE. 

contemplated for so long a time. Under the Empire these 
works were pushed with serious activity, and at the time 
when the building was burned by the Commune it was 
about to receive its last embellishments. 

The saddest spectacle, perhaps, to be seen in Paris is on 
the left bank of the Seine ; here, from the Eue du Bac to 
the barracks of the Quai d'Orsay there is a long succession 
of imposing ruins. 

That of the Palace of the Legion of Honor is, perhaps, 
the most saddening, because this beautiful monument, 
which recalled to the mind ideas of grandeur and nobility, 
while it at the same time offered to the eye a picture of 
exquisite grace, gives rise, by the contrast of the past with 
the present, to the most lugubrious impressions. 

This Palace, a beautiful specimen of the ingenious art 
of the eighteenth century, was built in 1786 for a rich 
foreigner, the Prince of Salm-Kirburg. It was inhabited 
for a time by Madame de Stael, under the Directory. The 
Grande Ghancellerie of the Legion of Honor was estab- 
lished here in 1803. 

During the Commune it served for headquarters to the 
Citizen Eudes, an assassin whom the revolution of the 4th 
of September had found in prison and set at liberty. 
Here were brought all the furniture and private effects 
which were taken from the house of the Marquis de Gal- 
lifet. The equipages of the Marquis were also brought 
here, and, needless to say, everything was pillaged. The 
silver of the Hotel of the Legion of Honor at St. Denis, 
which had been brought to the Grande Chancellerie at the 
commencement of the first siege to save it from the avid- 
ity of the Prussians, was also stolen. 

The building was set on fire at the four corners after 
the walls had been smeared with petroleum, notwithstand- 
ing the energetic resistance of the concierge, Hamel, who 
was carried off and thrown into prison. The Archives of 



PALACE QUAI D'OKSAY. 477 

the Grande Chancellerie, whicli stands opposite the Palace 
in the Eue de Lille, was also set on fire and entirely de- 
stroyed, together with the glorious annals it contained. 

The Palace of the Quai d'Orsay, which was another vic- 
tim to the yengeance of the Communists, was commenced 
under the first Empire and finished under Louis Philippe. 
It was first destined for the King of Eome, then for the 
Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Under the Restoration it 
was intended to be used for the expositions of the different 
industries; and during the late Empire it lodged the Oon- 
seil d'Etat and the Cour des Comptes. 

With the exception of the Staircase of Honor, deco- 
rated by the remarkable compositions of Theodore Chas- 
seriaux, the entire interior of the Cour des Comptes has 
been burned. The walls, which are thick, still remain 
standing. 

The ravages are most frightful in that portion of the 
building adjudged to the use of the Conseil d'Etat. Its 
large saloon, of a rich and imposing decoration, is entirely 
destroyed, and with it have disappeared the beautiful his- 
torical portraits of Sully, Colbert, Yauban, Eichelieu, 
Turgot, Suger, Portalis and Cambaceres. In the Hall of 
Legislation is to be regretted a beautiful painting by Paul 
Delaroche, while in another room one of the finest pic- 
tures by Eugene Delacroix, representing the Emperor Jus- 
tinian, became also a prey to the flames. 

Nowhere did the Federals show such a ferocity in their 
rage for destruction. Whole bucketsful of petroleum 
were drawn from the casks which had been for some time 
stored in the court, and the walls, staircases and floors 
were inundated. 

After having sheltered for some time the Citizen Pey- 
ronton, delegate of the Commune to the Conseil d'Etat, 
and his secretary Pelletier, the Palace was occupied mili- 
tarily, at the entrance of the Versailles troops, by the 



478 THE P A E I S COMMUNE. 

assassins Eudes and Megy, who bad fallen back precipi- 
tately witb tbeir men from tbe Palace of the Legion of 
Honor, and wbo evacuated this in turn, after having ac- 
complished their odious task. 

Unhappily, to tbe losses of tbe State were added those 
of many private individuals, members of tbe Cour des 
Comptes and the Conseil d'Etat, wbo, fearing tbe pillage 
of their private houses, bad brought here many precious 
objects and valuable papers, thinking to secure them from 
all barm. 

ISTot satisfied with the destruction of public edifices, the 
rage of the Communists expended itself on many private 
buildings. Every manifestation of riches excited their 
animosity, and they attempted thoroughly to carry out the 
programme of tbe International society, recognized as 
prime mover in this insurrection, which is : 

The abolition of all religions. 
The abolition of all property. 
The abolition of all family. 
The abolition of inheritance. 
Tbe abolition of nationality. 

The Eues de Lille, Du Bac, and Eoyale are those which 
suffered perhaps the most from tbe terrible scourge which 
afiiicted Paris. 

Although the Communists bad such an objection to 
capital, they showed that, once in their possession, they 
could spend it freely. The following is tbe approximative 
amount of what their eccentricities have cost the city of 
Paris : 

fr. 

Expenses of tlie Commiine 52,000,000 

Roads 2,500,000 

Hotel de Ville and Municipalities of Arrondisse- 

ments 36,000,000 

Fonoard 90,500,000 



ESTIMATE OF DAMAGE. 479 

Brought forward 90,500,000 

Churclies 1,000,000 

Barracks - 1,000,000 

Theatres 7,000,000 

Reparation of public buildings 1,000,000 

Palaces and monuments burned 114,000,000 

Reparation of palaces and monuments 1,000,000 

War expenses 260,000,000 

Houses burned 78,000,000 

Houses balf burned or damaged 34,000,000 

The villages in the environs of Paris 70,000,000 

RaDroads 10,000,000 

Commerce 200,000,000 

Total 867,500,000 

Among the men who supported the Communal insur- 
rection might be counted a great number of foreigners. 
Many of these belonged to the International Society, 
fanatics who had volunteered for the cause of Socialism, 
numbering perhaps 20,000, and who obeyed implicitly 
eyery order of the Society received through the medium 
of the Central Committee. 

The war with Prussia had also drawn towards the un- 
happy city of Paris a large number of adventurers of every 
race and climate, who flock always towards any spot where 
events are thrown out of their ordinary course by some 
great excitement. 

Among the thousands of prisoners' who defiled along 
the boulevards might be seen Eussians, Italians, Greeks, 
Wallachians, Belgians, Dutch, Irish, Spanish, and, above 
all, Poles. 

Among the chiefs, the number of foreigners was also 
considerable, and seemed gathered from all quarters of the 
globe. Every nation had one or more representatives, as 
may be seen by the following list : 

Anys-el-Biltar, director of manuscripts at the National 
Library (Egyptian). 



480 THE PARIS COMMUNE. 

Biondetti, surgeon-in-chief of the 233cl battalion 
(Italian). 

Babick, member of the Commune (Pole). 

Becka, adjutant of the 207th battalion (Pole). 

Cluseret, general. Delegate of War (Frenchman, natur- 
alized an American). 

Cernatesco, surgeon-major (Pole). 

Crapulinski, colonel of the staff (Pole). 

Capellaro, member of Military Bureau (Italian). 

Carneiro de Cunha, surgeon-major of the 38th battalion 
(Portuguese). 

Charalanibo, surgeon-major of the Federal sharp- 
shooters (Pole). 

Dombrowski, general of the forces of the Commune 
(Pole). 

Dombrowski, his brother, colonel of the staff (Pole). 

Durnoff, commandant of a legion (Pole). 

Echenlaub, colonel of the 88th battalion (German). 

Ferrara Gola, director-general of the ambulances (Por- 
tuguese). 

Frankel, member of the Commune (Prussian). 

Giorok, commandant of Fort Issy (Wallachian). 

Grejorok, commandant of the artillery at Montmartre 
(Wallachian). 

Kertzfeld, directpr-in-chief of the ambulances (Ger- 
man). 

Iziquerdo, surgeon-major of the 88th battalion (Pole). 

Jalowski, surgeon-major of the Eepublican Zouaves 
(Pole). 

Kobosko, estafelte, placed in the order of the day of the 
army of the Commune (Pole). 

La Cecilia, general (Italian). 

Landowski, aide-de-camp of General Dombrowski 
(Pole). 

Mizara, commandant of the 104th battalion (Italian). 



COMMUNIST FOREIGNERS. 481 

» 

Maratnck, aide-major of the 72d battalion (Huugariai]). 

Moro, commandant of the 22d battalion (Italian.) 

Okolowicz and his brothers^ general and staflF-officers 
(Poles). 

Ostjn, member of the Commnne (Belgian). 

Olinski, chief of the 17th legion (Pole). 

Pisani, aide-de-camp of Plourens (Italian). 

Potampenki, aide-de-camp of General Dombrowski 
(Pole). 

Ploubinski, staif-officer (Pole). 

Pazdzierswski, commandant of Fort Vanves (Pole). 

Piazza, chief of legion, (Italian). 

Pngno, musical director at the opera (Italian). 

Eomanelli, director of war materials (Italian). 

Eozyski, surgeon-major of the 144th battalion (Pole). 

Eubinowicz, staff-officer (Pole). 

Eubinowicz (P.), surgeon-major of the fusiliers of 
marine (Pole). 

Syneck, surgeon-major of 151st battalion (German). 

Skalski, surgeon-major of the 240th battalion (Pole). 

Soteriade, surgeon-major (Spaniard). 

Thaller, sub-governor of Fort Bicetre (German). 

Van Ostal, commandant of the 115th battalion (Dutch). 

Vetzel, commandant of the southern forts (German). 

Wrobleswski, general, commandant of the army of the 
south (Pole). 

Wilton, surgeon-major of the 72d battalion (American). 

Zengerler, surgeon-major of the 74th battalion (Ger- 
man). 



31 



CHAPTER XIV. 



Projet de loi concerning the hostages — Funeral services of the Archbishop and 
the other victims, celebrated at Notre-Dame — Immense number of prisoners 
captured by the Government— Description of the camp at Satory— Audacity 
of a Communist— Fate of the members of the Commune — Billioray — Gam- 
bon— Eudes— Okolowitch— Mathieu— Varlin— Jourde — Johannard — La Ce- 
cilia— TreUhard— Paschal Grousset— Eegdre—Vesinier— Verdure— Courhet— 
Rossel— Vermorel— Cluseret— Dufll— Langelle— Kazoua— Eochefort— His in- 
gratitude to his father— Letter of Henri V.— M. Ducatel made Knight of the 
Legion of Honor — The American Minister in Paris— His letter concerning 
the Archbishop— First condemnation of the Councils of War— Conclusion. 



N Friday, June 2d, the Minister of Public Instruc- 
tion addressed to the Assembly the following words : 

" The insurrection of Paris commenced by an assassina- 
tion, and ended by a massacre. 

"Every one here, every one in France, every one in 
Europe has present in his mind the details of the execu- 
tion of the hostages. 

" Their bodies have been recovered. The funeral obse- 
quies are soon to take place. The Government will have 
measures to propose which will tend to manifest the pub- 
lic piety in a solemn manner, and attest at the same time 
the regrets of the country and the indignation which fills 
all hearts. 

" I hope to be able to-morrow to give you an ofiicial 
communication on this subject ; but, having received to- 
day from the chapter of Notre Dame a deputation which 
announced the day and hour of the obsequies of the 



JULES SIMON'S PRO JET BE LOI. 483 

Archbishop and other hostages, I thought it my duty not 
to defer the communication. 

" The reunion for the ceremony will take place at the 
Archbishopric on Wednesday morning (June 7th) at a 
quarter past ten." 

The National Assembly then decided that a deputa- 
tion, chosen from among the members, should attend the 
funeral. Although the number of persons composing a 
deputation of this kind is ordinarily twenty-five, the As- 
sembly saw fit, under the present circumstances, to dero- 
gate from its custom, and appointed fifty to show this 
mark of respect to the Archbishop, and other victims as- 
sassinated by the Commune. 

On the following day M. Jules Simon read the follow- 
ing iwojct de hi : 

" At the same time that the insurgents, to increase the 
ranks of their army, took by force all citizens capable of 
service, leaving them no alternative but to hide, so incur- 
ring the greatest perils, or to march in their ranks under 
their infamous flag against order, liberty, and their coun- 
try, they laid their hands, without pretext, without a 
shadow of judgment, on the most eminent and respect- 
able men, announcing that they would keep them as 
hostages until the end of the civil war. 

"Nearly all the priests of Paris were arrested under 
these conditions, and, at the head of the priests, their 
Archbishop. 

" Several times, by proclamations, by discourses pro- 
nounced in the sittings of the Commune, it was declared 
that if the insurgents taken with arms in their hands were 
judged and executed at Versailles, the rebels would exe- 
cute their reprisals on this flock of innocents, not even 
following the law of retaliation, which did not suffice 



484 THE PAKIS COMMUNE. 

them, but in assassinating three victims for eyery crim- 
inal whom the law had condemned. 

"We refused to believe in the realization of these savage 
menaces ; but no one would have dared to imagine that, 
in the last and supreme hour, the hostages would be mas- 
sacred for no other motives than vengeance, hatred, and 
love of murder ; sentiments worthy of bhe barbarians who, 
in retiring before our soldiers, have destroyed so many 
national riches, who attempted to burn our houses and 
libraries, to their eternal shame and our eternal grief 

" The bodies of these beloved and deplored victims have 
been collected with the greatest care. 

" Some, still bearing the trace of the inconceivable fury 
of their butchers, present no longer the human form, and 
are utterly unrecognizable. 

" We are about to place them in the earth amidst uni- 
versal respect and tears. 

" The Assembly decided yesterday by a unanimous vote 
that it would represent the country at the head of the 
funeral procession. We ask it to-day to decree that the 
obsequies be conducted at the expense of the Public 
Treasure. 

"PEOJET DE LOI. 

" Art. 1. The burial of Monseigneur Darboy, Archbishop 
of Paris, and of the hostages assassinated with him in 
Paris, will be made at the expense of the State. 

"Art. 2. For this object, an extraordinary credit of 
30,000 francs is opened for the Minister of Public In- 
struction and Worship." 

This project was unanimously adopted on the succeed- 
ing day by 547 voices, with the addition of the following 
article : 

"A commemorative tablet, erected in the Church of 
Xotre Dame, will bear the names of all the hostages." 



FUNERAL OF THE VICTIMS. 485 

During tlie week preceding the ceremony, every day 
from ten to fonr, an immense crowd stood at the gates 
of the Archbishopric, waiting their turn to see the re- 
mains of the Archbishop, who lay embalmed within. 

His face was ghastly ; his beard and mustache, which 
had grown in the prison, were on one side discolored with 
blood. He was laid out in state, and beside him, day and 
night, nuns and priests were praying. 

The body of Monseigneur Surat, placed in the same 
room, was not uncovered, the face having been too much 
disfigured to render embalming possible. This was also 
the case with the Abbe Duguerry, whose corpse was 
placed in a chapel of the Madeleine, and where, all day 
long, a respectful and mourning crowd came to take a last 
farewell of their beloved curate. 

On Wednesday, June 7th, the obsequies of the Arch- 
bishop, of Monseigneur Surat, Vicar-General, of the Abbe 
Duguerry, Cure de la Madeleine, of the Abbe Becourt, 
Cure de Notre-Dame-de-Bonne-Nouvelle, of the Abbe 
Sabattier, second vicar of l^otre-Dame-de-Lorette, and 
other hostages, took place at IN'otre.Dame. 

The interior of the cathedral church of Paris was en- 
tirely hung in black, as was also the front of the church. 
A shield bearing the arms of the Archbishop, with this 
device : " Lahore jideque" was placed above the central 
door. On each side were shields bearing the fatal dates 
of the 24th, 2oth, 26th, and 27th of May. 

In the interior of the church on other shields were en- 
graved the names of the hostages assassinated by the 
Commune. 

Before the choir in the middle of the transept stood the 
catafalque of the Archbishop ; on the right and left were 
those of Mgr. Surat and Abbe Duguerry ; further down 
were those of Abbe B6court and Abbe Sabattier. 

The members of the National Assembly, the Ministers, 



486 THE PARIS COMMUNE. 

the Diplomatic Corps, the Magistrates, Marshal de Mac- 
Mahon Due de Magenta, Marshal Canrobert, several ad- 
mirals, a large number of army and nayy officers, the In- 
stitute and the University, all assisted at this imposing 
ceremony. 

At eleven o'clock the funeral procession, having left the 
Eue de Grenelle at ten, arrived at Notre-Dame. M. Dar- 
boy, brother of the venerable prelate, was chief mourner, 
and was followed by the secretaries of the archbishops and 
the hostages who had escaped the massacre ordained by 
the Commune. 

A large and mournful crowd filled the streets as the 
procession passed. A hearse, drawn by six horses, con- 
tained the remains of Mgr. Darboy ; another followed, 
with those of Mgr. Surat. 

The procession having reached the Place du Parvis- 
IsTotre-Dame, the Canons of the Church of Paris, the Cu- 
rates of the Diocese of Paris, preceded by the cross of the 
Chapter, advanced to receive the corpse of the Archbishop. 
Mgr. AUouvry, former bishop of Pamiers, then celebrated 
the divine office. 

At three o'clock, after the Vespers for the Dead, the 
body of Monseigneur Darboy was deposited in the vault 
of the Archbishops of Paris. 

The Abbe Duguerry was buried at the Madeleine on the 
following Friday. His body had been taken to Notre- 
Dame, owing to a request of the National Assembly, whose 
members wished to unite in one the funeral honors of all 
tlie victims of the horrible massacre committed at La 
Eoquette. 

Happily retribution was not long in overtaking the ma- 
jority of the authors of these terrible crimes. Every day 
large convoys of prisoners succeeded each other on the 
route to Versailles, their number finally amounting to 
over 30,000 men and women ; they were first directed to 



THE PRISOKBES. 487 

tlie camp of Satory, remaining there until they had been 
examined, when they were sent off to other places of con- 
finement, Cherbourg, Brest, etc. 

On Sunday, May 28th, a large column of prisoners, 
numbering 5,000 or 6,000, who had been captured at 
Belleville, was directed towards the west of Paris. When 
the head of the column reached the Arc-de-Triomphe, 
prisoners were still defiling on the Place de la Concorde. 
- There was every class of insurrectionists in this sad 
procession. National Guards, men in blouses, women and 
children, and, above all, a large proportion of deserters, 
belonging to those regiments which on the 18th of March 
had rendered the insurrection possible. It was they who, 
in the last hour, fought with the greatest fury and despe- 
ration. They marched sadly along, with their jackets 
turned inside out, and tied together in couples. All were 
bareheaded. 

The column was guarded by chasseurs d'Afrique, who 
made frequent halts, allowing the prisoners to sit down 
and rest. At the Porte Dauphine, the procession was met 
by the Marquis de G-allifet, followed by an aide-de-camp. 
He passed through the crowd of prisoners, amongst whom 
were women dressed as men, the vivandieres of the Com- 
mune, and by his orders they were divided into three par- 
ties before passing the ramparts. 

Eighty pri'soners, principally soldiers of every arm, 
linesmen, artillerymen, and Zouaves, were set apart and 
afterwards led to the right of the rampart to be shot. 
Twenty soldiers of the line were invited to return their 
jackets, and were set at liberty amidst the applause of the 
crowd, which had gathered while the remainder of the 
prisoners continued their march to Versailles. 

A noted journalist gives an interesting account of a 
visit made by him to the camp at Satory : 

"A prominent feature on the ground is a vast parallelo- 



488 THE PAKIS COMMUKE. 

gram, inclosed by a stout wall, wliere artillery used to be 
parked and a number of cayalry stables stand. It is here 
that the Communist prisoners are lodged when they ar- 
rive from Paris. When I say lodged, I mean that they are 
crowded into the stables and grouped in the open, inclosed 
by ropes and surrounded by sentries. Yesterday was a 
pouring wet day, as the one before it had been, and the ^ 
carriage wheels sank deep into the mud and holes of the 
neglected road. On our right were the tents and huts of 
a division there encamped. Opposite the entrance to the 
inclosure guns were drawn up, their muzzles pointed at 
the prisoners. Around the gateway stood gendarmes and 
police, and officers in their cloaks, all muddy and un- 
shaven The rain and the trampling of thousands 

of men had converted the whole of the vast square into a 
quagmire, into which one sank ankle-deep, intersected by 
ditches over which one had to jump. The various stables 
being inadequate to accommodate more than a portion of 
the prisoners, the others were penned like sheep in the 
corners of the inclosure. There they stood behind a rope, 
watched by numerous gendarmes-sentries with loaded 
chassepots, for the most part motionless, many of them 
probably sick and suffering, some in rags, some barefooted, 
many with dirty handkerchiefs as sole covering for their 
heads. As some protection — a very slight one — against 
the rain that poured steadily down, some had covered 
their shoulders with wisps of the straw they had slept 
upon. Most of them looked stolid and sullen. Our gen- 
darme said they were generally very meek and volunteered 
readily for fatigue duty. If those in the open were ex- 
posed to the elements, they at any rate breathed a purer 
atmosphere than was to be found in the stables. We en- 
tered one of these, crowded with men of all ages, some 
gray-headed, some boys of fourteen. Most of them were 
standing ; but in the background, where the light was 



A VISIT TO TnE PKISOKERS. 489 

dim, many recumbent forms could be distinguished as 
soon as the eye got accustomed to the gloom. 

" The appearance of four strangers, escorted by a gen- 
darme, evidently caused a sensation, and probably awak- 
ened hopes and fears. The Communists crowded round 
us,' opening only a narrow avenue for our passage. The 
atmosphere was unspeakably noisome. It was wonderful 
to see such a number of ignoble faces, and with such a 
vile expression, brought together. Among those in the 
first stable we entered, it was almost in vain to seek a 
countenance that would not have condemned its ov/ner in 
the eyes of the most lenient physiognomist. Our guide 
told us that numbers of them had arrived drunk, half 
mad, or completely stupefied by the alcohol, with tobacco 
steeped in it, which had been served out to them by their 
leaders. It seems incredible that so nauseous a mixture 
should have found consumers; but there appears to be no 
doubt that it did, and that it was a stimulus copiously em- 
ployed. 

" An officer of gendarmes entered the stable and stood 
near us. ' Answer to your names,' he called out in a loud 
voice ; ' it is for your own interest to do so/ And he read 
the names of four men, drivers of Paris cabs, whom some- 
body had applied for. Among the crowd of prisoners 
some innocent persons are inevitably to be found, and 
when their friends claim them, and give proofs of their 
respectability, they are frequently released. 

"We passed into another stable allotted to insurgents 
who had been soldiers, and who are therefore looked upon 
as doubly culpable. All sorts of uniforms were there, 
dirty and tattered for the most part. There were thirteen 
artillerymen from one battery. A tall man with a pale 
face and his head bound up, of smart soldierly figure, and 
who walked briskly and confidently in spite of suffering 
and degradation, was pointed out to us. He was an artil- 

21* 



490 THE PAEIS COMMUTE. 

lerymaii of the 20tli regiment, which was formed during 
the Prussian siege, and consisted entirely of Parisians. 
It had never been a good corps, but always troublesome 
and insubordinate. The enfants de Paris, it is well known 
in the French army, take long to discipline. On the 18th 
of March, this regiment was at Vincennes ; it seized Gen- 
eral Guibour, who commanded there, and threatened to 
shoot him. 

" There was a pompier, or fireman, who had received a 
sabre-cut over the head for insubordination after he had 
been taken prisoner. The well-known corps of pompiers 
is composed of picked men, generally soldiers who have 
served in the artillery or engineers, and they receive large 
pay. This man had commanded an insurgent battery on 
the heights of Montmartre, which sent petroleum shells 
into Paris. * Bon affaire est claire,' said our conductor, 
thereby meaning that he was certainly to be shot. Indeed, 
it is surprising he was not killed as soon as taken ; but 
having once been brought to the Satory depot, he will go 
through the usual formal examination and trial. 

" Of the soldiers who had been captured among the 
insurgents, many were insolent and defiant. Perhaps, 
half drunk, they boasted of their deeds, and gasconaded 
about their past exploits and military qualities. Not a 
few of these heroes were shot after capture by their exas- 
perated escorts. '^ Accidents^ happened to them on the 
way from Paris to Satory. We observed a few of the 
military prisoners, who, in clean uniforms, and with 
washed faces, would have passed muster well enough as 
smart, good-looking soldiers. Also there was a fair sprink- 
ling of young men of gentle aspect, apparently recruits 

who had been forced to serve by the insurgents 

As a general rule, the prisoners at Satory cared not to 
speak, even when accosted, but turned away or put on a 
sullen, disheartened smile. The stench and filth in their 



PEOMPT PUNISHMEliTT. 491 

places of confinement are revolting. The end of one of 
the large stables through which we passed was made to 
serve for every purpose. Those who, weary of standing, 
lay upon the ground, were on damp straw or the bare 
earth. Horrible faces scowled at us as we passed through 
the unsavory throng. Probably our gendarme had a 
revolver under his cloak ; but they might have closed in 
upon our little group, and have strangled or torn us to 
pieces in an instant had they been so minded. Of course 
they would have paid dearly for the freak, probably a vol- 
ley or two would have been sent among them. To pre- 
vent outbreaks, and secure many thousand desperate char- 
acters, who are neither handcuffed nor under bolts and 
bars, great precautions and severity are necessary. In the 
walls of the inclosure holes have been made, through some 
of which the mouths of cannon grin, charged with grape 
and canister, while at others sentries are stationed. The 
night before last a prisoner approached one of these em- 
brasures and persisted in looking through. The sentry 
warned him to retire, once, twice, and thrice, and then he 
blew his brains out. The top of his skull, we were told, 
flew over the wall. The victim had evidently sought his 
death. All round the inclosure outside there is a double 
line of sentries, and gendarmes stand thick in front of the 
stables. The slightest symptom of insubordination suf- 
fices to provoke summary punishment, and the- only pun- 
ishment known in such cases is death. The guard consists 
of gendarmes, police agents, and a battalion detached from 
the camp outside. 

" Before leaving, we visited the women's prison, which 
is a two-story house in a corner of the enclosure near the 
entrance gate. There were about two hundred of them, 
for most part such as are commonly found in the neigh- 
borhood of soldiers' barracks, or in the lowest outskirts of 
Paris, squalid and dangerous localities, of v/hich sketches 



492 THE PAEIS COMMUNE. 

are to be read in the pages of Sue and other romance 
"writers, whose taste it is to dive into the lowest depths of 
human depravity and degradation. There were some 
gray-haired old women, and some rather pretty young 
ones ; but the majority were hard-featured and middle- 
aged, and of indescribably repulsive aspect. One gaunt 
Amazon had a sort of uniform coat with a white band 
and red cross upon the arm, and when she arrived, 
we were told, she wore epaulets. Madame Milli^re had 
been there, who did the honors of the Hotel de Yille, and 
who came gayly attired ; but she had left before our visit. 
One girl struck me particularly. She did not look above 
eighteen, but may have been two or three years older. 
She was slender and well formed, with a profusion of fair 
hair, terribly dirty and tangled ; whereas many of the other 
women, squalid and dirty as their clothes might be, had 
evidently taken pains to comb and arrange their hair in 
the most becoming manner their scanty resources per- 
mitted. Her blue eyes were large and shifting, and with 
the expression of a wild animal, of which she reminded 
me as she roved restlessly up and dov/n one end of a room, 
keeping close to the wall, brushing against it as a hyena 
does against the bars in its monotonous, weary pacing of 
its narrow prison. From time to time she shot a side- 
glance at our gendarme, who was giving particulars about 
the prisoners in a pretty loud voice, and in terms which 
showed slight consideration for their feelings. They were 
such glances as might fitly have accompanied a dagger- 
stab. I know not what there was in the appearance of 
one of my companions which made some of these unhappy 
wretches fancy him an official person — a police commis- 
sary apparently — but they came up to him and began 
their tales, all pitched much in the same key. Could 
they be believed, they were all lambs, innocent and heart- 
broken ; some had the regular whine of the professional 



FEMALE PEISOZSTEES. 493 

mendicant, as they implored ' Mon ton monsieur^ to pity 
and release them. There were a few very young boys with 
the women ; some rather older ones I saw going about the 
enclosure with their fathers. It was the boys and women, 
we were told, who had acted as incendiaries. Many of the 
latter, however, had fought. In one of the recent convoys 
of prisoners that passed through Versailles came a female 
colonel, in a braided uniform, with straps for epaulets on 
her shoulders, and lace bars upon her wrist, indicating her 
rank. Another woman was being driven on by a gen- 
darme, who goaded her with the point of his sabre till the 
blood ran. ' Shame,' cried a spectator, ' to treat a woman 
so ! ' ' Woman ! ' exclaimed the gendarme ; Hhat woman, 
as you call her, killed my captain and lieutenant and a 
sergeant with three shots from her revolver.' " 

A most curious scene which also occurred at Satory 
proves to what an extent many of the Communists car- 
ried their audacity. 

A quartermaster of artillery presented himself at the 
camp, and asked from the chief of the guard permission 
to see his son, who had been arrested by mistake, he said, 
in one of the razzias of Paris. The chief of the guard 
took off his hat, expressed his regret most humbly that 
such a mistake should have been made, and ordered the 
young man to be called. 

Suddenly a gendarme on duty in the yard dashed his 
gun upon the ground, and throv/ing himself upon the 
quartermaster, seized him by the throat and endeavored 
to strangle him, crying, " I recognize you ; you are a Com- 
munist ; you ordered the execution of forty-five gendarmes. 
I was the only one who succeeded in escaping. At last 
I've got you, and will kill you." 

Seeing this, the chief and several persons intervened, 
and succeeded in disengaging the grasp of the gendarme. 



494 THE PAEIS C0MMU2^E. 

" What is the matter ? " they cried ; " explain your- 
self." 

The gendarme then informed them that the pretended 
quartermaster was no other than a chief of a battalion of 
the National Guard, and that on Wednesday morning, 
May 24th, he had ordered the execution of forty-five gen- 
darmes and several other hostages. 

"It is false ! " replied the individual ; " I am a member of 
the regular army, and as such I assisted at the capture of 
Montmartre. I a Communist! Allons done I " . 

" I swear," replied the gendarme, " that you are an in- 
surgent chief. I am not mistaken. I saw you under cir- 
cumstances which I can never forget, and I demand your 
immediate arrest." 

"Very well," said the commander; "the gentleman 
shall be conducted to the military bureau in the Eue de 
Satory, and there he can establish his identity." 

He was then placed in the hands of four men, escorted 
by the gendarme. 

Arrived in presence of the General, the individual ac- 
knowledged that he had, in fact, served under the Com- 
mune, and that he had been charged with the execution 
of a portion of the hostages. " I could have saved my- 
self," he added, "but my paternal sentiments were too 
strong, and I wished also to dehver my son." 

Needless to say that the quartermaster was forthwith 
transferred to prison. 

Besides the chiefs and members of the Commune who 
perished fighting behind the barricades, or who were shot 
by the soldiers immediately after arrest, many are now 
in prison at Versailles ; others, however, such as Felix 
Pyat and General Bergeret, have succeeded so far in elud- 
ing the vigilance of the police, and have probably gained 
the frontier. 

The deaths of Dombrowski, Delescluze, Milliere, Rigault, 




GAM BON 

Commune of Pans 

187 1 



FATE OF THE LEADERS. 495 

etc., as also the arrests of Eochefort, Mourot, and Assi, 
have already been described. 

Billioray Avas arrested on Saturday eyening in the Rue 
des Canettes, 19, where he was hidden under the name of 
Benedech. He was immediately conducted before the 
Grand ProYOst, where he was made to pass through a 
summary interrogatory. He denied for a long time 
being Billioray of the Commune and Committee of Public 
Safety, and it was only when confronted with a commis- 
sary of police, whom he had caused to be arrested and 
plundered on the 18th of March, that he ended by avow- 
ing his identity. One thousand and fifteen francs were 
found upon his person. He was then conducted to Ver- 
sailles to await his trial. 

Gambon and Lefrangais were shot in the Eue de la 
Ban que. On Sunday morning, while the battle was still 
going on in Belleville, Gambon, Geresme, the two Ferres, 
Lacord, and several other members of the Commune, had 
withdrawn to the Mairie of the 20th Arrondissement, es- 
corted by a guard of honor, composed of forty JSTational 
Guards, and of fifteen boys between fourteen and sixteen 
years of age, almost unable to carry their guns. The in- 
surgents had taken these boys from the foundling hospital 
in the Rue d'Enfer, and had given them kepis, embroid- 
ered with yellow, had placed guns and cartridges in their 
hands, saying, "Fire upon whomsoever we tell you, and 
when we tell you." They carried the last red flag which 
still floated in Paris. 

Gambon, whom report had killed on Thursday, was the 
only one who wore in his button-hole the badge of the 
Commune. He had even added to the ribbon, fringed 
with gold, a head of Liberty framed in the Masonic tri- 
angle of silver, on the three sides of which were inscribed 
these words : " Liberty, Equality, Fraternity, Commune 
of Paris." 



496 THE PARIS COMMUI^E. 

At eleven o'clock, word was brought them that the last 
partisans of their horrible cause were vanquished on every 
side, and that the regular troops were advancing to occupy 
the Mairie. They had barely time to save themselves, 
carrying with them their flag. They descended towards 
the exterior boulevard, which they crossed, stopping only 
when they reached the Eue Fontaine-au-Eoi, at a restau- 
rant, where they ordered a frugal breakfast to be served. 
The foundlings were placed on guard at the door, while 
the Guards were sent out as scouts, and a bugle was to 
give the signal if the enemy approached. 

While eating, the members of the Commune deliberated; 
all were for resistance with the exception of Gambon, who 
spoke for surrender. At two o'clock they descended into 
the street. The majority had xjronounced for resistance ; 
so the members of the Commune, aided by the foundlings, 
by a few women, and some Communists of the quarter, 
began the erection of a barricade. 

After a few moments the bugle was sounded. The Na- 
tional Guards were sought for, but they had prudently 
hidden away. Then Gambon mounted on the barricade. 

"I have passed thirty years of my life," said he, "in- 
sacrificing myself for the Republic and Liberty. I have 
given everything to the people, and to-day the people 
abandon me. I have made the sacrifice of my life for 
cowards who flee from danger when it meets them face to 
face. I swear that, if I escape, I will never again give an 
instant of my life, or one of my thoughts, to these men. 
Citizens, the great cause is again lost ; the Commune is 
killed by those who had sworn to make it triumph or to 
die, and who have not even defended it." 

His companions then tore from him his badge as mem- 
ber of the Commune, and threw away his kepi, to prevent 
his being recognized. The bugle sounded another signal; 
the red flag was placed on the barricade but half con- 



SOME MORE LEADERS. 497 

structed, arms were thrown in confusion on the ground, 
and all j:ook to flig-ht. 

The Commune had disappeared, but Gambon's good 
resolutions came too late. 

Eudes, another member of the Committee of Public 
Safety, was shot at Vincennes. 

Okolowitch, who was wounded at the time of the arrest 
of Cluseret by the Commune, was placed in an ambulance 
on the Champs Elysees. He had there a special tent, and 
a sentinel mounted guard close by. Monday, the 22d, he 
was suddenly awakened by an officer, who said to him: 

" You are my prisoner." 

"Ah!" cried he, "the Commune arrests me?" 

Soon undeceiyed, he was transferred a prisoner to Ver- 
sailles. 

But the members of the Commune were not all arrested 
or executed by regular troops. Many were taken and shot 
by their own soldiers. 

Mathieu, member of the Commune, was one of these. 
Wednesday morning, the Federals led to the Pont Neuf an 
individual dressed in civilian's clothes, no other than 
Mathieu, who had been arrested in the morning, and upon 
whom had been found a sum amounting to one million 
five hundred thousand francs. 

The insurgents accused him of having received this 
sum from Versailles for opening one of the gates to the 
regular troops. 

The ex-member of the Commune, notwithstanding his 
protestations of innocence, was placed with his back 
against the pedestal of the statvie of Henry IV, one of the 
Federals bound his eyes v/ith a handkerchief, and a few 
seconds after six shots resounded. 

Mathieu fell dead, his head crushed by the balls. His 
body was then picked up by two or three insurgents, who, 



498 THE PARIS COMMUNE. 

after balancing it three or four times over the parapet, 
flung it into the Seine. ^ 

Varlin, Delegate of Finances, accused of haying par- 
ticipated in the burning of the Ministry of Finance, was 
shot at Montmartre, in the Eue des Eosiers, at the same 
place where the Generals Lecomte and Clement-Thomas 
were assassinated. 

Jourde, the successor of Varlin as Delegate to the Fi- 
nances, was arrested May 31st on the Quai d'Orsay, by 
two agents of the police. 

The former minister had taken refuge in a house which 
stood close by the still smoking ruins of the Caisse des 
depots et conslgnatio7is. 

When arrested by the two agents of police, who said, 
"You are the Citizen Jourde ? " Jourde replied — " I ? neTcr 
in the world ! My name is Eoux. I am known in my 
quarter. Look here ! take me to the Marie of the 7th Ar- 
rondissement to see the Adjoint M. Hortas ; he used to 
be my schoolmaster, and will recognize me perfectly." 

The agents conducted the individual pretending to be 
Eoux to the Mairie in the Eue de Grenelle. They were 
introduced into the cabinet of M. Hortus, whose honesty 
and goodness are proverbial. 

" Good morning, M. Hortus ; do you remember me ? I 
am Eoux, your former pupil," said Jourde. 

M. Hortus rose abruptly, turned very pale, and, as 
though making a violent effort, replied : 

" You are Jourde, and you were never my scholar." 

" You are killing me," said Jourde, in a low tone ; " I 
have my poor mother, my wife " 

The Adjoint was inflexible ; the Delegate to the Finances 
was imprisoned in the Mairie, and word was sent to Mar- 
slial de MacMahon, who caused him to be brought to his 
headquarters. 



EXPENSES OF THE COMMUKE. 499 

When interrogated regarding the resources of the Com- 
mune, he said that they consisted on the 18th of March 
of four milHons found in the Treasury. 

Two milHons taken from the railway companies. 

Twenty-four millions obtained from the Bank of France. 

And finally, the duties, contributions, and ordinary re- 
sources of the city furnished the rest. 

As for the expenses, they were obliged to pay daily for 
the National Guards 350,000 francs, to the great regret of 
Jourde, who declared that towards the end of the reign of 
the Commune there were not more than 30,000 men who 
really performed their service. Beyond this the other ex- 
penses amounted to — 

609,000 francs during the first week. 

700,000 francs for the second week. 

This amount continued to augment until it reached the 
sum of 4,200,000 francs, which constitutes an average ex- . 
pense of 600,000 francs a day. 

Jourde denied being a member of the International, 
and stated that the society had placed very little money 
in the hands of the Commune, as according to his account 
the committee in London, which governs the whole insti- 
tution, had only 30,000 or 40,000 francs at its disposal. 

He at the same time denied having received any pay- 
ment from foreign countries, and added that he could 
prove fi-om what sources he had drawn the sums which he 
had expended. 

Johannard, member of the Commune, attached as civil 
delegate to the General La Cecilia, was judged by every 
one incapable of doing harm. A fine-looking young man, 
of striking attitudes, and much admired by the fair sex — 
surnamed in fact the Key-of-Hearts — he was extremely 
anxious to wear a uniform. He was finally named captain 
in the 100th battalion, and member of the Commune. 
Then, as always before, he showed himself to be good- 



500 THE PAEIS COMMUTE. 

hearted and intemperate. A woman was never refused 
anything by the civil delegate. 

In the last days, however, this citizen, considered so soft 
and pliable, became truly ferocious. 

At the barricade of the Kue du Petit-Carreau, he blew 
out the brains of a volunteer of the 10th battalion, and 
ran away after the first shot. 

In the Eue des Amandiers, a young girl belonging to 
the ambulances deplored the fate of the unfortunate vic- 
tims of the civil war ; by order of the delegate she was in- 
stantly shot. 

At La Eoquette he caused eight convalescent soldiers 
to be shot for refusing to march. 

As victory became more and more impossible, he became, 
under the impression of the fear which maddened him, a 
very cannibal in delirium. Some time before the end of 
the struggle, he withdrew as fast as his horse could carry 
him to the stronghold of Vincennes. 

" Kill every one as you fall back," was the order given 
by this bandit to the " Avengers of the Eepublic." 

At Vincennes, Johannard was not reassured ; even in 
this citadel he dreamed of snares of every kind. By his 
orders, the chapel was thoroughly searched, and the old 
fortress explored with minute care, but neither Johannard 
nor his associates had courage to descend into the vaults 
below. 

At the first cannon-shot, the delegate of the 3d Arron- 
dissement disappeared, and it was only after a long search 
that he was found behind the arsenal, hidden under a 
heap of broken gun-carriages. 

Two hours later he was shot in one of the ditches which 
surround the fort. 

General La Cecilia, his associate, was for some time re- 
ported to have been shot in like manner at Vincennes. 
This news has, however, since proved false, and was prob- 



ARREST OF LA CECILIA. 501 

ably circulated, as has happened in many other cases, by 
his friends, in order to cause the vigilance of the police to 
slumber. 

While colonel of the francs-iireurs of the Seine, La Ce- 
cilia lived during a month in the Chateau de Banneville, 
at Banneville -la-Campagne, a small town in the arron- 
dissement of Caen. 

Having succeeded in getting out of Paris, it was towards 
this chateau that La Cecilia directed his flight. He 
counted on the kindness formerly shown him by Madame 
de Banneville during the war with Prussia, and believed 
that she would consent to interest herself in his fate. 

He was mistaken, however, in his calculations. Madame 
de Banneville declared that for the defender of the Com- 
mune she had only hatred and contempt, and that if he 
did not immediately leave of his own free-will, she would 
have him put out of the house by force or else arrested. 

Seeing that all remarks would be superfluous. La Cecilia 
decided to withdraw. Almost immediately after his de- 
joarture, and while still overcome by the scene just enacted, 
Madame de Banneville was informed tliat the house was 
surrounded by gendarmes. A brigadier pi'esented himself 
saying that they had been instructed of the presence in 
her house of a dangerous man who had arrived that morn- 
ing at the station of Moult- Argences, and that they had 
come to arrest him. 

The lady then related what had happened. 

The gendarmes proceeded, without losing an instant, to 
search the environs, and the ex-general of the Commune 
was soon discovered in a small inn of Banneville-la-Cam- 
pagne, accompanied by his former attendant in the francs- 
tireurs, who, since the war, had taken service at the Cha- 
teau de Banneville. He had left the chateau with his 
former chief. A certain quantity of arms and ammuni- 
tion was found in the inn, whose proprietor, together 



502 THE PARIS COMMUlfE. 

with La Cecilia and his attendant, was directed immedi- 
ately toward Versailles. 

La Celicia is of Italian origin, and had received a yery 
good education ; his exalted opinions had obliged him to 
leave Italy, and in 1859 he was professor of mathematics 
in the University of Ulm. He joined later the corps 
formed by Garibaldi, since which time he has taken part 
in every revolutionary plot or intrigue. 

Treilhard, Director of Public Assistance, was shot May 
26th, at the Place du Pantheon. A search made in his 
house brought to light a casket in which he had hidden 
40,000 francs. 

The arrest of some of the Communist chiefs was not 
effected until after long and patient search. 

Paschal Grousset succeeded for many days in remaining 
in security within the city, while various reports were 
spread of his capture in Switzerland, his appearance in 
Belgium, and his arrival in London, all calculated to 
throw the authorities off the scent, and to enable him 
finally to effect his escape in safety. 

It was not until the 3d of June that he was captured, 
although, for five or six days, there had been strong suspi- 
cions entertained that the ex-Delegate of Foreign Eela- 
tions was hidden in the Eue Condorcet. 

These suspicions were soon changed into certainty. It 
was said in the neighborhood that he came every morning 
to breakfast with a Miss Hacard, with whom he had been 
on intimate terms for many years, and who lives at 39 Eue 
Condorcet. A commissary of police, accompanied by two 
agents and a locksmith, presented himself at the entrance 
to the fourth story of this house. 

He had been informed that two women lived there, but 
that one had just gone out. It was Miss Hacard, who had 
gone to buy some newspapers. 

Haying rung at the bell, and receiving no reply, M. 



PASCHAL GEOTJSSET. 503 

Duret, the commissary, caused the door to be broken 
open, and perceived a woman, whose back was turned 
towards him. This woman, possessed of an abundance 
of black hair, or rather with an enormous chignon attached 
to the summit of her head, was dressed in a black skirt and 
dressing-jacket. 

" You are Paschal Grousset," cried the agent of police, 
seizing the woman by the arm and forcing her to terms. 

Grousset, for it was he, did not attempt either to deny 
his identity or to make the slightest resistance ; he avowed 
his name, declaring himself a journalist and member of the 
Commune. 

He then asked permission to resume his masculine gar- 
ments, which was granted, and a search was immediately 
commenced in the apartment. 

Grousset remained perfectly impassible, flattering him- 
self that no one had ever laid hands on his papers, and 
that it would be the case always ; but when the order was 
given to search the canopy of the bed, he grew pale. 

" You've got the hiding-place," he cried. 

An enormous quantity of documents was in fact found, 
the study of which will probably be very interesting for 
the history of the foreign relations of the Commune. 

After a short interrogatory, Grousset was conducted to 
the Mairie of the 9th Arrondissement. He asked permis- 
sion to smoke a cigarette — a pleasure of which he had been 
deprived for ten days during which he had been disguised 
as a woman. 

It was in fact from the 23d of May that all news of him 
had ceased, and he had probably taken refuge as early as 
that day with Miss Hacard. 

Hardly had Grousset arrived at the Mairie Drouot when 
he was recognized and immediately saluted with cries of 
"A mort, V assassin! a mort, I'incendiare ! let him go on 
foot!" etc 



504 THE PAEIS COMMUNE. 

The caiTiage in which he was placed was escorted by a 
body of soldiers, but they were insufficient to restrain the 
fury of the assailants ; they pushed through the guard, 
shaking their fists in his face, and endeavoring to 
strike him. 

Several times M. Duret was obliged to lean out of the 
window and beg the crowd to respect his prisoner. 

" Be patient," he said, " justice shall be done ; but my 
honor as a magistrate is engaged to place Paschal Grous- 
set alive in the hands of the authorities." 

He was listened to for a moment with deference, but 
almost immediately the clamor recommenced with greater 
violence, and it is probable that justice would have been 
done on the spot if the procession had not been met by 
General Pradier, who inquired the cause of the tumult. 
Informed of the danger incurred by the prisoner, he 
requisitioned indifferently all the officers and soldiers 
who iDassed, and thus formed an escort sufficient to im- 
pose its will upon the crowd. 

They then proceeded along the boulevards and Rue 
Royale to the Palais de ITndustrie. 

Arrived at the entrance of the Eaubourg Saint-Honore, 
which was choked by the ruins of the surrounding houses, 
the fury of the crowd redoubled in violence. 

" Look, wretch, at what you have done ! Death to the 
incendiary ! Let him be shot on the ruins of the houses 
he has burned ! " 

" This crowd is ferocious," said Paschal Grousset. 

" One must be philosophical," replied M. Duret. " Fif- 
teen days ago, if I had been seized, I might have been in 
your place and you in mine, and who knows whether 
you would have saved me then from the fury of all these 
people." 

The carriage, however, advanced slowly. Grousset re- 
marked that he could not understand how he, a writer 



GllOUSSET IN PRISON". 505 

and an artist, could be confounded with the iconoclasts of 
the Louvre and Tuileries. 

After a long and often-interrupted march, the proces- 
sion finally made its entrance into the Palais de I'lndus- 
trie, seat of the chief military provostship, whence he was 
sent the same evening to Versailles. 

He was conducted, immediately upon his arrival, to the 
prison of the Kue Saint-Pierre, and placed in cell No. 8, 
between Eochefort and his secretary, Mourot. 

The ex-Delegate of Foreign Affairs was very depressed 
in spirits, and seemed convinced that he was to be shot 
on the spot without any form of trial. "When he arrived 
at the prison and saw the guardians of the peace ranged 
round his carriage,' he said, in a trembling voice : 

" Soldiers, don't hurt me ! " words which he repeated 
for the third time since his arrest. 

When he saw that the peril was not as imminent as he 
had feared, he regained a certain assurance, and, in enter- 
ing his cell, remarked to the guardians who conducted 
him: 

" They did well to come .... Two hours later they 
would not have found me." 

This appearance of tranquillity was not of long dura- 
tion ; invited to take something to eat, he refused, asking 
only for some tobacco. He then added : 

'^ When shall I be judged ? I hope I shall be judged. 
It is my right ; I was not taken prisoner with arms in my 
hands." 

It was then explained to him that he must await the 
orders of the military authorities, to whom he belonged, 
for the future. During most of the night Grousset was 
pacing his narrow cell. 

On the morrow he was up at an early hour, having 
thrown himself, towards morning, dressed, upon the bed, 
expecting to be interrogated immediately. The day passed, 
23 



506 THE PAEIS COMMUKE. 

however, without any other formality than a short inter- 
rogatory which established his identity. 

Eegere, a member of the Commune, whose name is well 
known from the decree of the Commune already men- 
tioned, " The Citizen Eaoul Eigault is charged, together 
with the Citizen Eegere, with the execution of the decree 
of the Commune of Paris relative to the hostages,^' was 
also arrested in Paris, but not until nearly the end of the 
month of June. 

For about eight days before his arrest he had been living 
in the Hotel des Italiens. His arrival at the hotel was 
preceded by that of two young men, serving doubtless as 
scouts, who gave out that they were nephews of an old 
man of sixty, who was about to rejoin them. 

The venerable uncle arrived in time, but it was re- 
marked that his hair and beard, cut very short, were of 
reddish tinge. This, however, was supposed to be the re- 
sult of vanity on the part of the old man — ^nothing more. 
The day after his arrival he caused his whole body to be 
covered with plasters, and took to his bed, where he re- 
mained most obstinately. 

M. Eegere had inscribed himself in the book of the 
hotel as M. Teuquien, a singular name, somewhat Chi- 
nese, and hardly calculated to divert suspicion ; however, 
he might have remained for a long time undisturbed, had 
it not been for the intervention of a lady, very nicely 
dressed, who had undertaken to furnish passports to sev- 
eral persons compromised in the insurrection. She had 
already procured several papers of this kind at tlie Pre- 
fecture, in virtue of what title it is not yet known, when 
the snare was discovered. 

From that moment the lady was furnished, in the kind- 
est manner, with all the passports which she came to de- 
mand, only — two zealous agents of the police were, at the 
same time, attached to her person. 



DE]?fOU]SrCIl<^G EACU OTnER. 507 

lu this manner Eegere was discovered, and his red 
beard was unable to resist a serious examination. [One 
of the nephews of Eegere was a staff-officer in the Federal 
Guard, who, as early as the 22d of May, had taken off his 
uniform in the quarter of the Elysee, and hidden in a cel- 
lar, " to await the course of eyents."] 

Vesinier, editor of the Officiel of the Commune, and, 
when he fell from those high functions, of the Paris 
Libre, was arrested at the Hospital of La Pitie. Here . he 
had taken refuge under an assumed name on the 23d of 
May. He was slightly wounded in the arm, but was 
never heard to remark at what barricade he had fought. 

Citizens Breslier and Grcffier,_^fe, both officers in the 
battalion called the Avengers of Flourens, particularly 
sought as the instigators of the conflagration of the 
Palace of Justice, were finally recognized, and arrested 
before the ruins of the monument they had destroyed. 

Citizen Verdure, belonging to the Central Committee of 
the Confederation of the National Guard, had disappeared 
immediately after the entrance of the Versailles troops into 
Paris, and all the searches made for him had proved vain. 

Verdure, however, had been arrested. He had been 
taken on one of the first days of the struggle in a group 
of National Guards who had voluntarily surrendered. He 
had assumed a false name, and hoped, thanks to this arti- 
fice, to pass unperceived amidst a crowd of others. 

Unfortunately he was recognized by one of his com- 
panions of insurrection while on his way to the provost- 
marshal, who, faithful to the principle of fraternity, hast- 
ened to denounce him. 

Verdure endeavored at first to deny his identity, but 
having been confronted with several other Commun- 
ists, and recognized by them, he was finally obliged to 
drop the mask and appear in his true character. 

The painter Courbet, to whom Paris and France are in- 



508 THE PARIS COMMUNE. 

debted for the destruction of the Column Vend6me, was 
arrested in the Eue Saint-Gilles, in the house of one of 
his friends, a piano-manufacturer. 

On the same day, Eossel, the ex-Delegate pf War, was 
arrested at No. 54 Bouleyard Saint-Germain. He was 
considered in the house, one of the employes of the 
Northern Eailway, of which he wore the uniform cap. 
He sought for some time to prove that there was a mis- 
take, but finding all denial useless, he resigned himself, 
saying, " Don't touch me, I am an ofl&cer of the army ; I 
will follow you without resistance." 

Vermorel, member of the Commune, was taken wounded 
to Versailles, where he died from the effects of an opera- 
ation necessitated by his wound. 

J. Miot was shot May 39 th, at La Muette. 

Of the famous Cluseret nothing positive is known. It 
is generally believed, however^ that he made his escape 
from Paris disguised as a cabman, and has landed safely 
in the United States, and that he will probably remain 
there until Satan " finds some work for idle hands." 

Two of the assassins of Generals Lecomte and Clement- 
Thomas have met the reward their crimes deserved. 

One of these, Dufil, arrested May 27th, accused of hav- 
ing commanded the fire on the unhappy Generals, and 
of having boasted of his crime but a few moments before 
his arrest, was conducted by a lieutenant and eight soldiers 
to the Chatelet. On the route he endeavored to escape, 
but was pursued by the lieutenant, who wounded him in 
the head by a shot from his revolver, causing him to fall. 
He then raised himself on his elbows, when four more 
shots were fired, and he fell to rise no more. 

Another of these assassins was Langelle, former ser- 
geant of the line. 

He had had some difficulty with the Commune, which 
caused him to be thrown into prison, and he profited by 



RAZOUA ARRESTED. 509 

this circumstance to pass himself as a victim of the men 
of the 18th of March. 

A few days after order was restored, as he was about to 
return one evening to his home, he perceived two men 
who seemed to be awaiting his approach. 

With the instinct pecuhar to people of his kind, he 
instantly recognized them as agents of the police, to 
whom, in fact, mission had been given to capture him. 

A battalion of the line was camped not far from the 
spot Langelle ran to find an ofiBcer, and with his order 
of arrest under the Commune in his hand, endeavored to 
persuade him that two insurgents were waiting to avenge 
themselves for his defection by doing him an evil turn. 

The officer pretended to be convinced, and a platoon of 
the line went immediately to arrest the two men; but 
when Langelle wished to withdraw, he was politely re- 
quested to accompany them. They went together to the 
commissary of police, when the true state of things was 
discovered. 

There are at present imprisoned at Versailles but four- 
teen members of the Commune. This is all that remain 
of that odious government which counted no less that one 
hundred and fifteen persons ; one hundred and one have 
disappeared, and are either killed or have succeeded in 
making their escape. 

Those who remain are : Eegere, Ferre, Assi, Eastoul, 
Courbet, Urbain, Paschal Grousset, Jourde, Trinquet, 
Arnold, Billioray, Verdure, Ulysse Parent and Des- 
camps. 

This last had been also for some time imprisoned under 
an assumed name ; not until six weeks after his capture 
was the fraud discovered. 

Eazoua, another member of the Commune, has just been 
arrested in Geneva ; his extradition will probably be de- 
manded by the French Government. 



510 THE PARIS COMMUl^E. 

Eocliefort is now confined in the prison of the Eue 
Saint-Pierre awaiting his trial; he occupies one of the 
cells nsnally given to persons condemned to death ; it is 
small, narrow, and very obscure, receiving light only from 
the corridor outside, which is itself only dimly lighted. 
Since his entrance into prison he has been anxious, pre- 
occupied, and taciturn, showing at times a fear of the fate 
which awaits him. He was shortly taken quite ill, owing, 
as he said, to a recent affliction in his family. This be- 
reavement, however, was no other than the death of his 
father, which occurred on the 12th of April, and whose 
funeral Eochefort had himself attended. The poor old 
man died in a state of great misery, almost of starvation, 
although, as Henri Eochefort himself stated, the publica- 
tion of the Mot d'Ordre brought to his son the sum of 
1200 daily. 

At the time of his death, the Marquis de Eochefort was 
living almost upon charity, at a house in the Faubourg 
St. Antoine, which was filled with aged persons who 
brought here what little furniture they had, and who paid, 
some $240, others $160, yearly. M. Eochefort was one of 
these last, but the poor old man's payments were very rare. 
His furniture consisted of an old bureau ai\d four cane- 
bottomed chairs, a broken and torn old arm-chair, a small 
library containing about thirty volumes, and an iron 
bedstead. This was all pressed into a room about six 
yards, but it did not even belong to him. He owed it to 
the charity of persons almost as poor as himself, who had 
come to the aid of the old man whose children had aban- 
doned liim. Two years ago M. Eochefort became pos- 
sessed of 1240 by selling two entrances for life to the the- 
atres Des Varietes and Vaudeville. 

At this period, Henri Eochefort, for whom his father 
had made every sacrifice in order to procure him a good 
education, was forced by the outcries of the Paris journals. 



LETTER TO L I B B M A K K. 511 

indignant at his nnlilial conduct, to remember that he 
had a father dying of hunger in one of the Faubourgs of 
Paris. He made him a pension of $20 a month ; although 
the gains of the editor of the Marseillaise and Mot cVOrdrc 
during the last two years are estimated at $60,000. The 
old man, however, was so happy at the receipt of this sum 
that he almost lost his head. 

Henri Eochefort never but once entered the sad abode 
of his father, and that was a few hours before his death, 
when he came and embraced him. On the morrow he 
returned with five or six persons, and followed the corpse 
to the cemetery of Bercy. 

Our readers will probably remember the part taken by 
M. Libbmann under the Commune, and his success in sav- 
ing from ruin the Chapelle Expiatoire of Louis XVI. 
Immediately after the entrance of the troops, a subscrip- 
tion was raised to repay M. Libbmann the sums he had 
expended. The amount raised, however, far exceeded the 
necessary sum, and the surplus was devoted to charitable 
purposes. M. Libbmann has lately received the following- 
letter of thanks and congratulation from Henry V, Comte 
de Ohambord : 

" CHAsrBORD, July 3d, 1871. 

" I was much moved, Monsieur, by the feelings which 
you expressed in your letter, and by the thought, so 
Christian and so French, which inspired you. I already 
knew of the admirable zeal and courage which you had 
displayed in the crisis through which we have just passed. 
I am happy to be able to express here, myself, all my grat- 
itude to you. Thanks to you, France will not have had 
the grief of seeing disappear in the revolutionary turmoil 
the chapel consecrated to the memory of the martyr-king. 
Saint Louis has, by his intercession, saved the Holy 
Chapel, which stands alone to-day in the midst of the 



512 THE PARIS COMMUNE. 

ruins surrounding it. The prayers of King Louis XVI 
have obtained the preservation of the expiatory monu- 
ment in the Eue d'Anjou. You were chosen to he the 
instrument of this great work. Eejoice at the recompense 
accorded to your patriotism and your faith. I entirely 
approve of the destination given to the surplus of the 
subscriptions which you have received, and I again repeat, 
Monsieur, the assurance of my sincere gratitude and affec- 
tion. "HEIfRI." 

Tor the services rendered by M. Ducatel, by whose 
means the troops were enabled to hasten their entry into 
Paris, the Minister of Public Works has recommended 
that M. Ducatel should be nominated a Knight of the 
Legion of Honor. This recommendation was followed by 
a decree of M. Thiers carrying out the proposal. 

We cannot close this work without paying a tribute to 
Mr. Washburne, the American Minister in France, who 
has remained in Paris during the two terrible sieges which 
the city has undergone, and who has done so much to 
render our countrymen proud of their representative. 
During the days of terror his courage and energy were 
unequalled, while his efforts for the release of the unhappy 
hostages were unceasing, and in many cases were crowned 
with success. Everything in his power was done by him 
to assuage the sufferings of the Archbishop ; and, thanks 
to his intervention, several Sisters of Charity were re- 
leased from confinement. 

Mr. Washburne's letter, however, explains better than 
we can do, his visit and his kindness to Mon seigneur Dar- 
boy, at a time when it was so much needed. 

" Pabis, AprU 23, 1871. 

" You are aware that Monseigneur -Darboy, the Arch- 
bishop of Paris, was seized some time since, by order of 



MINISTER WASHBURHE. 513 

tlic Commune, and thrust into prison, to be held as a 
hostage. Such treatment of that most devout and excel- 
lent man could not but have created a great sensation, 
particularly in the Catholic world. 

" On Thursday night last I received a letter from Mon- 
seigneur Chigi, Archbishop of Myre and Nuncio Apostolic 
of the Saint-Siege, and also a communication from M. 
Louvrier, chanoine of the Diocese of Paris. M. Lagard, 
the Vicar-General of Paris, and Messrs. Bousset and Al- 
lain, clianoines and members of the Metropolitan Chapter 
of the Church of Paris, all making a strong appeal to me, 
in the name of the right of nations, humanity, and sym- 
pathy, to interpose my good offices in behalf of the impri- 
soned Archbishop. I have thought that I should have 
been only conforming to what I believed to be the policy 
of our Government, and carrying out what I conceived to 
be your wishes under the circumstances, by complying 
with the request of the gentlemen who have addressed me. 
I, therefore, early this morning, put myself in communica- 
tion with General Cluseret, who seems at the present 
time to be the directing man in affairs here. I told him 
that I applied to him not in my diplomatic cajoacity, but 
simply in the interest of good-feeling and humanity, to 
see if it were not possible to have the Archbishop relieved 
from arrest and confinement. He answered that it was 
not a matter within his jurisdiction, and however much 
he might like to see the Archbishop released, he thought, 
in consideration of the state of affairs, it would be impos- 
sible. He said that he was not arrested for crime, but 
simply to be held as a hostage, as many others had been. 
Under the existing circumstances, he thought it would be 
useless to take any steps in that direction. I myself 
thought that the Commune would not dare, in the present 
excited state of public feeling in Paris, to release the Arch- 
bishop. I told General Cluseret, however, that I must 

22* 



514 THE PAEIS COMMUTE. 

see him to ascertain liis real situation, the condition of his 
health, and whether he was in want of anything. He 
said there would be no objection to that, and he imme- 
diately went with me in person to the Prefecture of Police, 
and upon his application I receiyed from the Prefect a 
permission to visit the Archbishop freely at any time. In 
company with my private secretary, Mr. McKean, I then 
went to the Mazas prison, where I was admitted without 
difficulty, and being ushered into one of the vacant cells, 
the Archbishop was very soon brought in. I must say I 
was deeply touched at the appearance of this venerable 
man. With his slender person, his form somewhat bent, 
his long beard — for he has not been shaved apparently 
since his imprisonment — ^his face haggard with ill-health, 
all could not have failed to have moved the most indif- 
ferent. I told him thab I had taken great pleasure, at the 
instance of his friends, in intervening on his behalf, and 
while I could not promise myself the satisfaction of seeing 
him released, I was very glad to be able to visit him to 
ascertain his wants, and to assuage the cruel position in 
which he found himself. He thanked me most heartily 
and cordially for the disposition I had manifested towards 
him. I was charmed by his cheerful spirit and his inter- 
esting conversation. He seemed to appreciate his critical 
situation, and to be prepared for the worst. He had no 
word of bitterness or reproach for his persecutors, but on 
the other hand remarked that the world judged them to 
be worse than they really were. He was patiently waiting 
the l^gic of events, and praying that Providence might 
find a solution to these terrible troubles without the fur- 
ther shedding of human blood. He is confined in a cell 
about six feet by ten, possibly a little larger, which has 
the ordinary furniture of the Mazas prison — a wooden 
chair, a small wooden table, and a prison bed. The cell is 
lighted by one small vfindow. As a political prisoner, he 



WASHBUENE'S LETTEE. 515 

is permitted to have his food brought to him from outside 
the prison ; and in answer to my suggestion that I should 
he glad to send him anything he might desire, or furnish 
him with any money he might want, he said he was not 
in need at present. I was the first man he had seen from 
the outside since his imprisonment, and he had not been 
permitted to see the newspapers, or to have any intelli- 
gence of passing events. I shall make application to the 
Prefect of Police to be allowed to send him newspapers 
and other reading matter, and shall also avail myself of 
the permission granted me to visit him, to the end that I 
may afford him any proper assistance in my power. I 
cannot conceal from myself, however, the great danger he 
is in, and I sincerely hope that I may be instrumental in 
saving him from the fate which seems to threaten. 
" I have the honor to be, 

" Very respectfully, 

" Your obedient servant, 

"E. B. Washbuen"e." 

The trial of the chiefs of the Commune has been several 
times postponed ; but little doubt can exist of the fate 
which awaits them, if we may judge by tliat of a subordi- 
nate named Ferdinand Sencier, who has been condemned 
to death by the First Council of Versailles. 

This man was an artilleryman at the Porte Maillot, re- 
nowned for his unerring aim, and "who boasted that he 
never aimed a gun at the Versailles troops without killing 
his man. His behavior at the tribunal was anything but 
prepossessing ; accused of desertion in time of war, of 
having formed a part of insurrectional bands, of massacre 
and pillage, he aggravated his situation by fanfaronades 
"which nearly caused his expulsion from court. A still 
more horrible accusation, however, was brought against 
him ; it was that, while he "was firing upon ISTeuilly in the 



516 TnE PAEIS COMMUIfE. 

direction of a liouse inhabited by his mother, the poor 
woman was killed by the bursting of a shell. He was 
condemned to capital punishment. 

If the instrument is thus condemned, the leaders will 
not remain unpunished ; and the men who ruled over Paris 
with a rod of iron, only at the last to deliver up the un- 
happy city to fire and blood — the men who obliged the 
poor soldiers, after five months' rude imprisonment in 
hated Germany, to turn from the firesides waiting to re- 
ceive them and take up arms against their fellow-country- 
men — the men who brought desolation and mourning to 
so many homes which had been filled with joy at the safe 
return of their sons and brothers from the Prussian war — 
these men will surely meet the reward of their crimes, and 
give to the world a terrible example. 

Colonel Rossel, whose career was both brief and san- 
guinary, Captain of Engineers in the French Army, Col- 
onel under Gambetta, Chief of Staff under Cluserct, 
Delegate of War, President of the Military Court, and 
Commander of the Commune Forces, was condemned to 
military degradation and death by the Versailles Court- 
Martial, September 7th. The savage and heartless Ferre 
and would-be Dictator Lullier were sentenced to the same 
fate. 

Trinquet and Urbain were condemned to imprisonment 
for life. Assi, Grousset, Billioray, Eegere, Verdure and Fer- 
rat, to deportation and confinement in a fortress. Jourde 
and Eastorel to transportation. 

Courbet was condemned to six months' imprisonment, 
Clement to three months ; Decamp and Parent were ac- 
quitted. 

Pams, Thursday, Sept. 21, ISTl. 

M. Rocliefort's trial has concluded, and he has been 
sentenced by the Court-Martial to transportation to a 
penal colony for life. 



AMERICAN GUIDE TO EUROPE. 

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, Method. Intended to accompany " Harper's Hand- 
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Mr. Fetridge has done his work capitally, and both travellers and stu- 
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